The Day of Ragnarok
by Videogamatic
Summary: Lloyd and Colette's exsphere journey doesn't go as expected. They soon meet a sassy girl who joins them, a strange elf who wants to capture Lloyd, and a black creature that refuses to die. My own sequel to TOS. Contains violence,language,spoilers,and OCs.
1. Chapter 1

VGA:'Sup? I'm Videogamatic, and I'm ten times better than you (just kidding). You can call me VGA. I've been planning this story in my head for quite a while now (and by while, I mean like three months) and I've finally gotten the nerve to finally write it. This story may not be so good, and it may take a while to finish, but it will be complete, one day, but I won't abandon it (unless I die of course). Here it is, Chapter I. This is my own sequel to TOS so there WILL be spoilers.

This story is rated T for Teens. Contains: blood, gore, language, crude humor, drug and achohal use , trash talking, and...yeah. Lots of trash talking.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Namco does. Lucky bastards.

Chapter I

"Mama! Look what I found!" An eager toddler cheered as he ran toward his mother, who was hanging up freashly laundered clothes.

"Yes honey, what is it?" she smiled warmly.

"Mama, look! I brought some flowers for you!" the child held up a messy bouquet of red flowers.

"How pretty they are. They're the color of blood. Like the blood of all those innocent people you've killed . Isn't that right Lloyd, my precious child..."

"...Mama...?"

Lloyd woke up, covered almost completely in cold sweat. He let out a choked cry while covering his mouth to quiet his gasping, it didn't really work though, for both his companions were looking at with concern in their eyes.

"Lloyd are you okay!? Whats wrong?" Colette fretted.

"whine" Noishe whimpered.

"Um, it's nothing Colette,"said Lloyd, trying to put on the best reassuring smile he could "Sorry if I woke you. Try to ignore me."

"How can I ignore ya if ya screamin' ya damn head off!?" a gruff voice snarled from above. "Ya payed me ta take ya ta Palmacosta not have ta listen ta ya scream!"

"Sorry! Sorry." Lloyd apologized. Colette giggled."What's so funny?" Lloyd asked, not unkindly though.

"Sorry, but it's just that I'm the one who's usually apologizing." she smiled.

"Like you are now?"

"Sorry."

"Why are you sorry for? You didn't do anything."

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"What did I just say? Forget it. How much longer till we get to Palmacosta?"

"A few hours."

"Damn." Lloyd buried his head back into the pillows. They had been travelling together to collect and destroy all exspheres, parasitic like stones that literally drain the life out of you. However, if equipped with a keycrest, they could be beneficial (But those of you who are reading this shit should already know how the exspheres work, so I don't see why I should have to repeat what the game already stated). So far, the trip was not as easy as it seemed. They had just started their journey a few days ago, and they had a total of sixteen exspheres. Not too bad, they had travelled already to Iselia, Triet, and Izoold. Now, they were travelling on this shitty ass boat with a rude, arrogant prick for a captain to get to Palmacosta.

"Lloyd?" asked Colette.

"Hn?" Lloyd's response was muffled, for he still had his face covered.

"Were...were you having a nightmare?" Lloyd lifted his head.

"Well, sorta, kinda...yeah."

"Was it...about your mother?" Lloyd's eyes widened considerably.

"H-how did you know?"

"Well you said 'mama' so..." Lloyd began to blush and quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry Lloyd! That was rude! I'm so sorry!"

"It's allright," Lloyd said softly as he turned to face the wall "Goodnight." Noishe loked toward his master and lay down also.

"Goodnight...Lloyd" murmured Colette.

Lloyd yawned and stretched out his sore limbs. He managed to fall asleep the night before, but he was still tired. He was out on the dock with Noishe waiting for Colette to come out. After a few minutes she did.

"Ready to go?"

"Uh huh!" Colette chirped. Then she turned around. "Bye Mr.Captain!"

"Thanks for the ride!" Lloyd joined in, just to be nice.

The captain merely spat his cigarette into the sea and pulled out another from a pack in his back pocket.

"Arrogant bastard. I hope he chokes on that." Lloyd muttered. Noishe growled in agreement.

"Lloyd, that's not nice!"

"Well he wasn't nice to us!"

"That's...true."Colette admitted defeat, the bastard deserved to die...just kidding.

"Well, lets get going!"

"Okay!"

So they began to walk through the busy streets of the rebuilt Palmacosta. Well the barely rebuilt Palmacosta. Rebuilding a town that's been destroyed by an out of control tree root isnt exactly a cake walk. But it was doing good so far. Guilt found it's way into Lloyd's heart suddenly. Colette, who always seems to notice these things asked, "Lloyd, what's wrong? You look sad."

Lloyd immediatly perked up. "N-nothing! I'm just thinking of stuff and...stuff."

Colette just left it at that, even though Lloyd hardly ever thought of stuff and...stuff. They had just turned the corner when Colette asked, "Lloyd, where are we supposed to be going?"

Lloyd stopped "Um, well. Geez, I never really planned it. Where do you think we'd find some exspheres?"

Colette placed a finger to her lip, as if in deep thought.

"Well," she started "Palmacosta never really had any use for exspheres. Lets just stroll around, see what we can find, and move on to the next town."

"Sounds good to me."

"Let me go!! I swear I'll scream!!" a voice rang out. Lloyd and Colette exchanged glances, then ran toward the direction of the voice, Noishe close behind. What they saw was a large man, about six feet tall, holding a teenage girl by her wrist.

"C'mon babe, just one kiss." the man slurred. Obviously, he was drunk.

"Eew!! No! Now let me go!"

"Feisty, just how I like 'em."

"Jerk!!" the girl then bit the man's arm.

"Argh!! Little bitch!!"

"Leave her alone!" Lloyd shouted. Now that he was closer, Lloyd recognized this girl.

"C-chocolat?"

"Lloyd, Colette!" Chocolat unclenched her jaw and ran to them.

"Brat, you're gonna pay for that!" the drunkard pulled out a small dagger and charged for Chocolat. Lloyd saw this and quickly shoved her out of the way and easily blocked with his sword.

"Idiot," Lloyd smirked. "Beast!" A sonic boom in the shape of a beast's head slammed straight into the large man, sending him about a good fifteen feet across the clearing. He ended up crashing into a nearby fruitstand.

"And I only needed to take out one sword!" mocked Lloyd as he spun his sword in his hand expertly.

"Lloyd, you're so strong!" cooed Colette.

"Thanks! Chocolat, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! Thanks for the back-up!" Chocolat smiled "I swear, more drunkards keep coming out of nowhere nowadays."

"That's awful." said Colette "Does this always happen to you?"

"Only when I go to the bar near here. I needed to get some Palma Potion for my mom. They say stuff but they don't usually follow me...Like him." Chocolat shot the man (who was still K.O.ed) a look of disgust.

"So...How is your mom?" asked Lloyd.

"Oh, she's great! Do you wanna stop by the shop? My mom wouldn't mind."

"Sure, okay!"

The four of them (remember, Noishe is still with them) began to walk to the direction of Chocolat's house, completely forgetting about the drunk man, who was attempting to sit up from the rubbish he had been smashed into.

"L-little shit,"he growled menacingly "You'll... pay for this."

"Um, sir?" the vendor who owned the destroyed cart said "I-I'm going to have to charge you for-"

The vendor's sentence was cut short. The drunkard grabbed him by the throat and hurtled him into the salty ocean. He then spat on the floor and staggered toward the plaza.

"I see, so you've been collecting exspheres." said Cacao, Chocolat's mother."I think it's wonderful, helping all those poor souls." They were in Marbel's shop, huddled by the counter where Cacao usually stood behind.

"Do you know where we may find anymore of them?" Colette asked politely.

"No... Perhaps in Tethe'alla. Sylvarant is a pretty simple land you know."

"Yeah, you're right." Lloyd scratched the back of his neck. Suddenly, a loud crash emitted from outside, followed by several screams.

"W-what was that!?" Colette stammered, paling slightly.

"Whatever it was, it didn't sound good." Lloyd immediately ran out the door, Colette following along with the others.

As soon as Lloyd stepped outside he froze. He met the face, or rather_ faces_ of several musclebound thugs, the drunkard from earlier in the lead.

"Hey kiddo," he jeered "Lets see you take on all of us."

VGA:So...that's it, for the first chapter at least. Was it too short, too cliched? Either way, I'm still continuing it. You won't be disappointed... Mwahahahahahahahahahaha... Great, now I sound like Wiseman.


	2. Chapter 2

VGA:Chapter II, coming at you. I promise this story will get better, just check it out every once in a while, please? Oh my God, that's the first time I said 'please'... Enjoy.

Disclaimer:I own Tales of Symphonia. Pfft, I wish. I DON'T own Tales of Symphonia.

Chapter II

Lloyd's brown eyes darted back and forth to one menacing face to another. There were well over ten men, each as rougish as the other. They were greatly outnumbered, and on top of that, they were in a public place. How the hell did they manage to group together that fast?

"What's the matter kid?" the drunkard from earlier, who was obviously the ringleader of the gang spoke. "Scared?"

Now, a rational person would of tried to think this out, to try and find a way to avoid this without causing public distress but we all know Lloyd...

"I'm not afraid of some low-life faggot like you!" he said. The man twitched.

"I want this kid ripped to pieces," he snarled. All at once, the men charged for Lloyd, who drew his swords and was in battle stance.

"Colette, back me up!" Lloyd called over his shoulder. Colette nodded and pulled out her two chakrams. She didn't really approve of Lloyd's actions but, oh well...

Lloyd sidestepped to his left as a cutlass nearly scathed his arm and moved to the back of his adversary and slashed him on the back. He ducked down to avoid a horizontal swipe made by another attacker and tripped him, knocking him to the ground. Lloyd was not aware of the hatchet that was raised above his head. Colette's eyes widened.

"No!" Colette spun around and desperatly threw her chakram, praying that it would hit it's target. It glided in the air and sliced off the head of the ax, which ended up landing a few feet away from it's wielder. The man stood there dumbfounded. Lloyd turned around and kicked him square in the chest.

"Thanks," Lloyd gave a thumbs up to Colette who blushed lightly. Lloyd was suddenly pushed roughly to the ground.

He attempted to sit up but was held down firmly by a greasy leather boot which belonged to the ringleader.

"Lloyd!!" Colette rushed forward but stopped abruptly as a sword was put to her throat.

"Hold it there," one of the cronies said. "What should we do with this one boss?

"Leave her alone!!" Lloyd shouted. The drunkard pushed harder on Lloyd's chest.

"Well," he said. "I have a bone to pick with this punk only. Do whatever you want with her."

"Hear that girly?" one man grinned wickedly.

"Lloyd help!!" Colette pleaded.

"If you touch her I'll-"

"You'll what?" the drunkard sneered "Little punk ass, you should learn to respect your elders."

"Respect this!!" a voice yelled. The drunkard all of a sudden fell to the floor, blood gushing from his nostrils. Lloyd looked down at the fallen man, then looked up to see a young girl about his age wiping blood off her arm. She had blazing, short, messy red hair that framed her freckled face and bright neon green eyes. Her outfit also was bright green, which consisted of a simple short sleeve T-shirt and shorts with a small bag tied at her side. She also wore tight fitting knee high boots and had on a green headband on the top of her head. What shocked Lloyd the most was the girl's weapon of choice; brass knuckles.

"Who are you?" Lloyd asked. The girl turned toward Lloyd, their eyes interlocked, and then...

"Dumbass!!" she yelled. Lloyd jerked slightly, startled by her comment.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean 'huh'? Get your ass up and fight!"

"What'd you do to the boss!?" one man cried.

"You're gonna pay for that you little bitch!!" another threatened.

With a smirk, the girl ran at full speed toward the one who had threatened her and gave him a devastating punch to the face, then spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the other man's skull. The man who held Colette hostage placed her in front of him, the blade still at her throat.

"Come any closer, and her head's gonna be on the floor!" he said. The girl just stood there and crossed her arms, all the while grinning.

"Why are you smilin' for!?" the man was damn near hysterical. "Answer-" The man suddenly went down as one of Lloyd's blades made contact with his shoulder.

"Colette, are you allright?" Lloyd asked. Colette nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks, both of you,"

"Damn, retreat!" the remainder of the men ran off, undignified. The three stood there in silence.

"Well damn," said the girl who looked like a human lime. "I was hoping for more of a challenge. That's the thing with those kinds of losers, you take out their leader and then they're totally lost."

"Um, yeah," Lloyd agreed.

"Whoa! You guys were awesome!" They all turned to see Chocolat and her mother running towards them. "With the beating you gave them, they'll never set foot here again!"

"What about the dudes on the floor?" Lloyd asked, referring to the men they had knocked out.

"The knights will clean them up," Chocolat shrugged.

"Well now that that's settled," the girl removed the brass knuckles on her fingers and placed them in a bag at her side. She flashed them a smile "Shall we get going?"

Lloyd gave her a confused look. "Huh?"

"Again with 'huh's!" she snapped. "It's obvious you guys are adventurers, and adventurers go on adventures right? Judging from that last fight, you guys wouldn't last a minute without someone of my expertise."

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean!?" Lloyd yelled. "We didn't need you!"

"Oh yeah, that explains why you were on the ground while they were about to do Martel knows what to this poor girl."

"T-that's... We were just outnumbered that's all!"

"That's why you need someone like me! Three's the perfect group number. We're less likely to be attacked and who knows if those guys show up again, with more goons? I think I've proven my point."

"Damn it, just who do you think you are!?"

"You're pretty rude, you know that?" The girl snorted. "I am Margarita, thank you very much."

"Wow, that's a really interesting name!" Colette chirped, oblivious to the earlier conversation. "We'd love to have you travel with us!"

"Colette, can I talk to you?" Lloyd pulled Colette to the side, "You seriously want her to join us?"

" Well, if it's allright with you. I mean, she _did _help us. And I bet deep down, she's really a sensitive, caring person, like Sheena."

"Yeah, _really _deep down," he muttered.

"Ahem, still here...?" The girl known as Margarita crossed her arms indignantly.

"Can I just ask why you want to come us... Margarita?"

Margarita's anger dispersed as her expression suddenly became saddened.

"W-well because... I've never been to the outside world and well, it sucks travelling alone. Please, can I come with you?"

Lloyd just stood there, taken aback from her sudden moodswing. One minute, she's a bitch, the next, she's like a innocent little girl. Creepy...

"...Lloyd?" Colette looked up worridly at the swordsman.

"Huh?"

"Is 'huh' your favorite word or something?" said Margarita.

"NO." Lloyd was starting to get more and more pissed off.

"Hm, well are you coming or not?" Margarita started to walk away.

"W-wait! We didn't sa- Damn it!"

"Don't worry Lloyd," Colette reassured."This will fun! I'm sure she's really nice!"

Lloyd sighed, but began to walk after Margarita.

"Fine, you can come with us," he said.

Margarita's eyes lit up."Really!?" she exclaimed."Thanks so much! You won't regret this! Now let's get going!"

"You guys are leaving already?" Chocolat asked.

"Well yeah, we want to get to Asgard as soon as possible," Colette said.

"Asgard? That's where you're going?" Margarita asked. Colette nodded.

"We're trying to collect and destroy all the exspheres!"

"Okay... Why?"

"Do you know what exsphere's really are?" Lloyd asked warily. Margarita shook her head slowy, indicating 'no'.

"Well, at least we'll have something to talk about. By the way, I'm Lloyd Irving-Aurion!"

"And I'm Colette Brunel!"

"I'm Margarita Juliana del Rosa Alejandra Hernandez The Third!"

Silence.

"That's... One hell of a name." Lloyd said.

"So's yours. Irving-Aurion, who came up with that shi- Aww, who's this cutie?"

Lloyd was taken aback at first but then realized she was talking about the furry dog-like creature behind him.

"Oh, this is Noishe, my dog."

"He's so cute! Can I pet you?" Margarita rubbed Noishe's ears and Noishe pulled back slightly. "What, you don't like me? Is it cause I'm a red head?"

"He doesn't like strangers that's all," Lloyd said, petting Noishe's head. "He just needs some time to get used to you."

"I'll get you to love me Noishe, you'll see!" Margarita stood up. Noishe made a noise somewhere between a huff and a whine which obviously meant "like hell you will".

"Now, shall we get we get going? We'll be screwed if it get's dark while we're travelling. Those thugs may have revenge on their minds."

This journey was going to get really weird.

VGA:Margarita Juliano del Rosa Alejandra Hernandez III... Took me about two minutes to make up her name. What do think of her? If you haven't guessed, she's supposed to be of Latino heritage. If you're confused about her weapons, here's a description; They are brass knuckles, which is metal that fits on all four fingers. You basically just punch people with them on and it hurts like hell. Very unusual for young girl to equip, she's about 17, like Lloyd. Well...yeah, that's basically it. Later.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm baaaaaaaaack... I bet you're all like 'Damn it!'. Here's Chapter III, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, Kvar would of died of breast cancer. Seriously, he's such a fag. I get this weird feeling that he _loved_ Lloyd. shudder ...child molestor...

Chapter III

"Y-you guys are, THE ONES WHO REUNITED THE WORLDS!?!?"

Lloyd slowly nodded, fearing that any sudden movements may set her off.

"I don't believe it," Margarita put her hands on her hips defiantly. "Gimme some proof. And _maybe_ I'll believe you."

Lloyd closed his eyes thoughtfully, trying to think of some kind of proof that he could rub in Margarita's face. How he wanted to prove the bitch wrong...

"Umm..."

"Lloyd! Our wings!" Colette said suddenly.

"Oh yeah!"

Lloyd and Colette simultaneously drew their angel wings. Colette's a soft, sparkling magenta, and Lloyd's a pure, cool, indigo. Margarita's jaw fell.

"You're... angels?" she whispered.

"Well, you see the wings." Lloyd said.

"That... IS AWESOME!!! Can I touch them!?" Without waiting for an answer, Margarita darted behind Colette and gently caressed the end of her wing.

"The color is so pretty!" Margarita cooed. "They totally match your personality!" Then she went behind Lloyd, "They're so warm and soft... almost as if they were alive. Hey, does it hurt when I do this?"

"Ouch!" Lloyd felt a stinging sensation at the tip of his wing.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

"What'd you do!?"

"I pulled off a feather." Margarita held up a shining blue feather. "Can I keep it?"

"It's not like I can use it now..."

"Thanks!" she shoved the feather into the bag on her side.

"How much farther till we get to Asgard?" she then asked.

"About... Two more miles," Colette determined by looking at her map. "We should be there in... half an hour I think"

They had been walking for about an hour. They hadn't run into any monsters, surprisingly, so they got there faster than usual. Lloyd and Colette had told Margarita about the Journey of Regeneration, Mithos, and how exspheres were made.

"Soooo... Margarita. Why don't tell us about yourself?" Lloyd suggested.

"... Like what?" Margarita shifted uncomfortly.

"I don't know, your family, where you came from, where you learned to fight, how you got that crazy name,"

"Well... I, um... To tell the truth... I ran away." Their walk came to a halt.

"Ran away?" Colette breathed. "But why?"

"Well, let's just say, my family was... unloving."

"Unloving?"

"Yeah, they never payed much attention to me. You see, have a Papa was very... strict about fighting and war and would train me. My mother died when I was little, so I basically had no choice. I got fed up with his shit and just ran away. I've been by myself since."

"Wow," Lloyd said "It must of been very tough, being in a family like that."

"Yeah, but in a way, it benefitted me. I mean, you saw how I totally mopped the floor with those loser's asses!" Margarita grinned.

"You're not upset at all about your father?" Colette asked, intrigued with her new friend's story.

"Nah, not really. Besides, it's been like a week since I've left and he hasn't done anything to look for me. So... No, not really."

"..." They began to walk again.

"Hey, Margarita," Lloyd said. "Where did you get your exsphere?"

"Stole it from my Papa," she said nonchalantly. Noticing the weird looks the two gave her she said, "Well, I'm a good fighter but I need some way of surviving. My Papa had a lot of them laying around so... yeah. I just took one. I didn't think he'd notice."

"Do you know where he got them from?" Margarita shook her head.

"Look! There's Asgard!" Colette pointed to the distance. Sure enough, they could see the hazy outline of the ancient city.

"Finally!" Lloyd groaned. They quickened their pace.

"This place looks like shit," Margarita stated matter-of-factly.

They were now in Asgard, the City of Crap (I seriously hate Asgard. It's crap and it's soooo boring) and Margarita was showing no signs of interest.

"Yeah, it's really boring," Lloyd said. "But we're only gonna be here for a while. We want to get to Tetthe'alla as soon as possible."

"Why don't we say hi to Aisha and Linar?" Colette suggested.

"Who? What?" Margarita questioned. She began to follow after her new friends.

"They're friends of ours."

"You guys seem to know a lot of people," Margarita mused. "Must be nice."

They soon arrived in the small yet cozy home of Aisha and Linar, it was very quiet however.

"Um, anyone here?" Lloyd asked uncertainly. They looked around but saw no signs of life.

"Maybe they...left?" Colette glanced around.

"Coming!" they turned to see blue-haired Aisha pop up from behind a counter. "Lloyd, Colette welcome! And whose your friend?"

"This is um... Margarita Julius...Rosie...The Third?" Lloyd racked his brain trying to remember her name.

"WRONG." Margarita huffed "Margarita Juliana del Rosa Alejandra Hernandez The Third."

"That's a very interesting name," Aisha chuckled. "You bear it well." Margarita blushed slightly.

"Er, thanks," she said.

"We just wanted to say hi," said Colette. "Is your brother and Harley here?"

"Ah, yes! A while ago, about maybe two days, my brother found a strange stone, it looked like an exsphere. Him and Harley have shut themselves in his lab ever since."

"An exsphere? What did it look like?" Lloyd asked.

"Well, it was slightly larger than your average exsphere and had a funny shape. And it was a blackish, purple color." Aisha described. "He got it from some man named Nova."

"That's the man who helped us find Aska." Colette realized.

"...That's a summon spirit, right?" Margarita said.

"Yeah. Hey, do you think we could see it?" Lloyd asked.

"Of course, I'll take you to them," Aisha said. They followed her to Linar's lab, who looked up and smiled.

"Ah, it's the Chosen- I mean Colette and her friends," he said. "You came just in time, I have something really interesting to show you."

"The exsphere right? Aisha filled us in," Lloyd said.

"Yes, here take a look," The three walked up to the desk and peered at the so-called exsphere.

Indeed, it looked like an exsphere, only larger and was roughly shaped like a hexagon. It was black and metallic, like obsidian (which is a volcanic rock, if you didn't know). Lloyd picked it up and held it in the light, which revealed that the stone was actually purple.

"You sure it isn't a dud or something?" Margarita asked.

Linar shook his head. "I've studied it," he said. "I don't know if my data is perfectly accurate, but from it indicates, it has properties, similar to that of a exsphere. However, I wouldn't recommend equipping it."

"Huh? Why not?"

"It seems, evil," Linar's eyes narrowed.

"Evil?" Colette tilted her head.

Noishe trotted over to the stone, which Lloyd still had clutched in his hand. He sniffed the stone and suddenly, his fur stood on end and he bared his teeth. He let out a growl which Lloyd had never heard in his life.

"What's wrong Noishe?" Lloyd asked worridly, but Noishe never blinked and continued to snarl.

"Hey Noishe," Lloyd reached out to pet him. The moment Lloyd touched him, the creature's eyes dilated and he suddenly snapped. Without warning, Noishe clamped his jaws onto Lloyd's forearm, ripping at the flesh and muscle.

"NOISHE-!!" Lloyd gasped. Colette shrieked and Margarita quickly grabbed the rabid creature by the neck in a futile attempt to pull him off.

"W-what the hell's wrong with him!?" she said frantically. "Bad dog!!"

"N-Noishe, let go!!" Lloyd yelled. "Please!!"

Sanity suddenly filled the pet's eyes. His ears and tail drooped and he whined as he released his masters arm. He then began to lick the wound, as if apologizing.

"Noishe..." Colette said sadly. "What's gotten into you?"

"Whine"

That's when Harley came in with several bags in his arms.

"Hey, Linar!" he said. "I got the..." He stopped when he saw the red blood dripping from Lloyd's arm.

"Ooookaaaay..." he said, a little more than freaked out.

"Do you see what I mean? This isn't any ordinary exsphere," Linar commented.

"I know, Noishe has never acted like that," Lloyd said, looking at his bandaged arm. Noishe whined an apologetic whine. "Oh, it's okay, I'm not mad." Lloyd smiled and pet Noishe on the head, who responded by happily wagging his tail.

"You said the stone might be evil right?" asked Margarita.

"Well, yes." said Linar.

"They say animals can sense the dead. Maybe Noishe saw a spirit! You never know..."

"Well I suppose it isn't impossible,"Linar considered.

"If only we had that half elven women with us," Harley mused. "She could probably figure it out."

"That's it!" Linar suddenly perked up. "You are all searching the world for exspheres, right? Surely you'll meet up with Ms.Sage. You can give this to her to study."

"You sure?"asked Lloyd.

"Absolutely."

"Well, okay then. I'm curious to know how they're doing anyway."

"Thank you so much." As Linar handed the stone to Lloyd, Noishe's eyes stayed fixed on the crystal, never blinking once.

VGA:Sup? I was always thought in would make a great scene for Noishe to suddenly turn rabid and attack someone. Everyone seems to forget about him though... I guess it's understandable, him being a minor character and all, but you have give the dog some props. He did save Lloyd after all. And yes, I do realize he is a protozoan, but Lloyd and the others don't know that...yet. Later.


	4. Chapter 4

VGA:This is my favorite chapter so far. Enjoy... 

Disclaimer:I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, the Great Tree would of fallen on Yuan's base.

* * *

Chapter 4

"Grass," Lloyd said simply.

"Sky," Colette said.

"Yellow,"Margarita added.

"Water."

"River."

"Roar."

"Red."

"Deal."

"Lair."

"Rip."

"Pelt."

"Tear."

"Damn it, you keep picking words that end in 'r'!" Lloyd said angerly.

"Not my fault you're an idiot,"Margarita stated casually.

"I want a redo!"

"Fine then. You go first cause you suck."

_This isn't gonna end well, _thought Colette. Noishe whined.

"Sword."

"Dunce."

"...End"

"Dumbass."

Lloyd twitched.

"SLUT." he sneered.

Margarita glared.

"Two-faced jerk." she spat.

"Conniving whore!"

"Egotistic bastard!"

"Damned bitch!!"

"Homosexual ass!!"

"YOU SUCK!!!"

"YOU SUCK MORE!!!"

"Will you both stop!?!?" Colette yelled. Silence. "... Why don't we take a break?"

Lloyd and Margarita shrugged and sat down. They pulled out some sloppy sandwiches they had put together. They had traveled from Asgard and were heading to Luin. They were somewhere near the coastline. Without really thinking, Lloyd pulled out the strange exsphere. Noishe stiffened.

"Man, I don't get what's with Noishe," Lloyd sighed and put away the exsphere. Noishe whined happily. Lloyd saw this and was confused by the dog's actions.

"Hey guys, look at this." Lloyd pulled out the stone.

"growl"

Lloyd put the stone away.

"whine"

The stone came out.

"growl"

The stone went in.

"whine"

Out.

"growl"

In.

"whine"

"The hell?" said a bewildered Margarita.

"It's definitely the exsphere," said Colette firmly.

"Margarita, maybe that dead spirit thing you said is true." said Lloyd.

Noishe suddenly let out a frightened whimper.

"Lloyd, you can stop scaring him."

"I'm not doing anything."

"Hm?"

Thundering footsteps literally sent the trio (adding Noishe) a foot into the air. They drew their weapons.

"W-what is that?" Colette gulped.

"Must be an ogre," Lloyd said, his eyes in the direction of the footsteps. "They're pretty common here."

"Ogre huh?" Margarita smirked, "Sounds like fun. Bring it on!"

They stood and watched as the trees began collapsing, one by one. Then finally, the footfalls stopped and a blurred shadow rose into the air. When it fell back to the earth, what they saw was probably the most horrifying thing they saw since the Exebula. It was monster, about ten feet tall. It stalked towards them, it's jet black skin glistening. Bits of rotting flesh and muscles hung freely from its body. It's arms and legs had thorns protruding from them, which were probably used as the creatures weapons. It's glossy red eyes scanned it's prey, who stood rooted to their spots.

"T-that's no ogre..." Margarita whispered.

"What is that thing?" Lloyd managed to choke out.

"Lloyd...?" Colette whimpered, horrified.

The beast opened it's jaws, revealing about three rows of razor blade teeth, and let out a deafening roar, which could be heard from a ten mile radius. Their eyes misted as the foul, putrid breath washed over them like a wave. Colette's hair rustled violently in the air, Lloyd shielded his now burning eyes (he was standing in the front and had took the full brunt), and Margarita covered her nose to keep from gagging. The creature raised it's clawed hand.

"Spread out!!" Lloyd yelled. On cue, everyone jumped back in separate directions just as the hand slammed to the floor, sending bits of rocks scattering in air. Out of instinct, Lloyd dashed forward and began mercilessly slashing at beast's exposed chest, while Margarita unleashed a series of punches and kicks alongside him. The monster, however, took no notice of this and easily swatted the swordsman away like a fly.

"Lloyd!" Margarita called, distracted. She dropped her guard for about half a second and the beast took advantage of this. It roughly grabbed her around the waist and effortlessly lifted her into the air.

"Let go!!" she yelled. She then collected spit from the back of her mouth and and hacked a loogie into one of the monsters eyes. It had no effect though, for the saliva ran down it's gleaming eye like a drop of rain running down a window. It opened it's jaws, slowly.

"Eek!! Help!!"

"Angel Feathers!!" Colette, who had been preparing an incantation for one of her Angelic spells, sent several disc shaped tufts of feathers flying toward their enemy. It also had no effect, other than dazing the creature slightly. When she was close enough, Margarita kicked the monster dead center in the forehead with both feet. It let out a gurgling noise and released its hostage.

"Guys, you okay!?" Lloyd ran to his companions.

"Where the hell were you!?" Margarita snapped.

"Sorry! It sent me flying like twenty feet into the forest!"

"Nothing's working!" Colette cried. "Not even my magic hurts it!"

"We'll have to retreat!" said Margarita.

"No!!" Lloyd shouted. Margarita stared.

"If we let that thing live," he continued. "It could hurt someone! What if it reaches a village!? Luin just barely got repaired!"

"What do you suggest then?" his red head companion shot back. "Nothing hurts it, not even magic! This is suicide!"

"Suicide... That's it!"

"Say what?"

"Just watch." Lloyd walked up to the beast.

"What's he doing?" Colette asked. Margarita shrugged.

"Hey ugly!!" Lloyd called. The monster snorted in response. "Want some of this?" Lloyd then pulled out a piece of sandwich from earlier. The creature stared at the food. Lloyd pulled off a piece and threw it at the beast, who eagerly caught it in it's mouth liked a trained circus animal. Margarita and Colette stood there in awe.

"Want more?" Lloyd coaxed. "Then come and get it!" And with that, Lloyd ran as fast as he could from the creature, which stood on it's hind legs and began a mad dash after it's prey.

"Lloyd!!" Colette yelled after him, and began to run in the same direction, Margarita hastily following.

Lloyd continued to run till he got to a cliff overlooking the sparkling blue sea. He turned around, and saw that the monster was still charging for him, it's head lowered like a bull. Taking a deep breath, he leaped off the cliff, the monster, who had gained too much speed to stop, followed suite. The girls witnessed this and gasped in horror.

"LLOYD!!!" Colette screamed at the top of her lungs. They stood there in disbelief as to what had happened. Finally, both girls ran to the edge of the cliff. Just as they were about to peek over the edge, Lloyd suddenly shot up, his glimmering wings spread out. He was wearing a goofy grin on his face.

"Hi guys!" he said as he landed on the earth. "Did you miss me?"

"You're okay!" Colette cried happily and gave him a hug. Margarita walked up to him and gave him a slap across the face.

"Ow!! What the hell was that for!?" Lloyd yelled angerly.

"For being an idiot!!" Margarita retorted. "When I said suicide, I didn't mean throw yourself off a cliff!!"

"But I can fly so screw you!!" Margarita slapped him again.

"That's for being a jerk. Now, lets get out of here. It's dark, we smell like monster breath, and I'm hungry!" Margarita stormed off, Lloyd and Colette followed reluctantly. Noishe trotted up to them, panting.

"And where the hell were _you_!?" Margarita barked. "Some noble steed _you_ are!" Noishe growled and walked alongside Lloyd, who methodically ran his fingers through the dogs fur. He turned his head around, to cast the cliff one last glance before it was completely out of sight.

_Is that thing really dead?_ he thought.

* * *

VGA:Did any of you notice that Lloyd actually lost that game? He said conniving, which begins with a 'c' not a 'k'. For those of you who were confused about the game, how you basically play is one person says a word and then the next person says a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word. Go to one of those crappy House of Salvations and you'll see what I mean. Well, later. 


	5. Chapter 5

VGA:Don't have much to say except enjoy. Oh, I got a question from killerbunbun. I think it's the one near Asgard and that old dude's house. You go to the second floor and talk to the maid and the character you have for display will automatically play it it, you can't do anything though, they talk on their own. But I think it can only happen _before _you go to Tethe'alla. Okay, I think that's it. Here's Chapter 5.

Disclaimer:I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, Asgard would have blown up somehow.

Chapter 5

When Lloyd, Colette, Noishe, and their new travelling companion Margarita had arrived in Luin, lets just say they looked like pure shit. It was dark by the time they reached there, and thay headed to the nearest inn ASAP. The owner was a bit reluctant to renting them the room (for they smelled like monster breath) but gave it to them after they agreed to first take a shower, well, two showers. After they were freshened up, they retired to their room. Colette got one bed, and Lloyd, being the gentleman he was(after getting threatened by Margarita) gave his red headed friend the other. The swordsman ended up having to sleep on a couch, with Noishe curled up on the floor next to him. After all they had been through, they easily fell asleep.

Lloyd was the first to rise, which was _very _rare. He attempted to sit up but found he couldn't. During some time last night, Noishe had obviously decided to jump onto his master's legs and sleep there. It was the dogs snoring that had woken him up.

"Noishe, get off..." Lloyd murmered, burying his head into the pillows to drown out the snoring, but to no avail.

"Noishe, OFF."

In response, Noishe snored louder. Sighing resentfully, Lloyd shoved the heavy dog off the couch, who let out a surprised yelp. Lloyd yawned and lay back down, only to have Noishe jump back on him a few seconds later. Lloyd pushed him back down.

"STAY." he said sternly. "I mean it."

Noishe cocked his head and jumped on his master once more, this time, licking him furiously.

"Fine, you win!" Lloyd hissed. "I'll go sleep in a tree or something."

Lloyd got up and left his comfy couch. Noishe let out a triumphet whine and curled up in the soft blankets. Stretching, Lloyd made his way to the window. It was pretty early, the sun was out and a few people were going about their business. Lloyd silently got ready, taking care not to wake up Colette or Margarita, especially Margarita.

Lloyd stepped outside and breathed in a lungful of fresh air. Now that it was daytime and Lloyd was better rested, he saw that Luin was repaired and looking more beautiful than before it was attacked.

"Hey, when did these get here?" A shining gold statue of Colette had caught his eye. "Wow, this thing is really detailed.". He looked around and noticed other statues of his companions and wondered if there was one of him. He found it, right in front of of the water fountain. He also found someone staring at the statue intently, completely unaware of anything else. Lloyd got closer and heard him murmer, "So this is what he looks like..."

Lloyd stopped. Why was this guy looking at the statue like that? Was he a fan? Or maybe he was gay? Lloyd sure hoped he wasn't a stalker...

_Should I talk to him?_ Lloyd thought. He reached out to tap the person on the shoulder but stopped when he saw the guy had long pointed ears and dark brown skin. An elf with brown skin? Now _that_ was unusual...

The guy then turned around and froze when he saw Lloyd. He could now get a better look at the young man, who was about his age. He indeed had brown skin like Lloyd's hair and had messy blue hair that partially covered his right eye, which was also blue. He wore a grey blue ornate vest over a white long sleeved shirt and had on black pants with several pockets at the sides. His ears were pointed and pierced with silver hoop earrings at the very tip.

"Umm, hi!" Lloyd said uncertainly.

"You're-!" the young man took a step back. Lloyd cocked his head. "You're Lloyd Irving, aren't you?"

"Depends. Give me your name and I'll give you mine." (Lloyd's catch phrase).

"I don't need to give you anything. If you're not him, explain why that statue looks exactly like you."

"W-well," Lloyd started. "That statue says Lloyd Irving. Mine's Lloyd Irving_ Aurion _so technically..."

"Enough of this crap," the young man took out a small baton.

"What, you gonna do some cheerleading or something?" Lloyd laughed.

The young man flicked his wrist and the baton extended into a six foot bo staff, which he expertly spun before going into a fighting stance. Lloyd hadn't expected that.

"Lloyd Irving Aurion, you're coming with me," he said darkly. "Whether you like it or not." The elf ran at Lloyd with such speed that Lloyd had to throw himself to the ground to avoid a heavy blow to the head. He then hooked his leg with his assailant's, causing him to clumsily hit the floor. Lloyd sprung back up and got ready to draw his blades when he realized something; he had left his swords at the inn.

"Son of a bitch!" Lloyd cursed.

"You're defenseless," the elven guy smirked. "Makes my job a hell of a lot easier."

"Listen, I don't get who the hell you are, but could you at least tell me _why _you want to capture me?" 

"Some things are better left unsaid. Now, if you calmly surrender I won't have to hurt you."

"Screw you!" Lloyd gave him the finger. "I'm not going to go with some random dude who tries to kick my ass!"

"Idiot." The young man then swung his staff at Lloyd, who easily ducked down. But then the elf suddenly spun around and kicked Lloyd square beneath the jaw. He sat up and rubbed his chin, luckily none of his teeth were broken. His enemy then slammed his staff over Lloyd's head, keeping him grounded. Lloyd groaned and attempted to get back up.

"You're still conscious?" the elf asked. He raised his weapon above his head.

Suddenly, a viscious snarl caught the elf's attention. Noishe came out of nowhere and grabbed the young man's staff with his jaws.

"Let go!" he attempted to pry the staff out of the dog's mouth, but to no avail.

"Lloyd!" Colette then arrived. She kneeled next to Lloyd. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said, still dazed. "But where's-" Lloyd was cut off when he was hit over the head by a blunt object. He looked up to see the glaring neon green eyes of Margarita.

"I see you're in the same position as when I first met you." she taunted. "You forgot these." She then threw down Lloyd's blades.

"Damn it!" the young man kicked Noishe in the head, making him release the staff. Margarita then ran up to him and stomped on his foot, then spun around and elbowed him in the chest. She turned to punch him, but the strange elf was quick enough to block her attack. Margarita, however, retaliated by instead grabbing his staff and kneeing him in the stomach. And for the finale, she gave him a devastating punch to the face, sending him straight into the lake behind him.

"And that's that," Margarita tauntingly dusted off her shorts, then walked over to where Lloyd and Colette had been watching. She made eye contact with the swordsman and said,"It seems that the Great Margarita Juliana Del Rosa Alejandra Hernandez the Third has rescued your ass once more." Lloyd glared.

"Well actually _Noishe _was the one who saved me," he retorted. "So screw you!" Margarita was about to slap him when the strange elf from earlier pulled himself up onto dry land. He was drenched and panting, trying catch his breath.

"Back for some more?"Margarita asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"..." the elf eyed her menacingly, then Lloyd and Colette. He stood up. "I'll be back." He pulled out a palm-sized ball and threw it at the ground causing smoke to scatter. The mysterious elf gave them one last cold stare before completely being enveloped by the smoke. Margarita crossed her arms.

"Pansy ass" she snorted."Come on, let's get out of here. But first we need to stop by the inn to make sure poor wittle Woyd didn't forget anything else super important." She then began casually walking towards the inn.

"Lets go Lloyd," Colette stood up and offered Lloyd a hand, which the swordsman ignored and instead pulled himself up on his own.

"Man, I'm starting to hate that bitch!" he growled.

"Lloyd, she's just trying to help you."

"Help me!? How!?" Lloyd yelled, more violently than he intended. Colette shrunk back.

"S-she's trying to r-remind you about forgetting stuff...?" she stuttered innocently. Lloyd sighed and began to walk toward the inn leaving a saddened Colette and Noishe. The angel began to pet the dog's head, who whined sadly.

"Do you think Margarita's a little hard him?" Colette asked.

"whine" (Hell yeah)

"I think there's a reason she's doing it. Just like Kratos when he was hard on Lloyd. He was really trying to protect him."

"whine whine" (Have you considered the fact that she's just a snobby little bitch?)

"I think deep down, she's a really nice person. Don't you?"

"growl" (If only you understood me...)

"You think so too?"

"..."

"Let's go Noishe!" Colette chirped, and they both went to the inn.

VGA:There is now an assasin. A little cliched, but you know. Here's an description of him: I'm not telling you his name cause that would totally ruin the storyline. He's a little older than Lloyd, maybe Zelos' age. His weapon is a bo staff, which is just an ordinary staff which was used by the Chinese. He appears to be an elf with dark brown skin, but there's more to him than that. Okay, that's enough description. Later.


	6. Chapter 6

VGA:Chapter 6 coming at you. I'm surprised I got this far already. Thanks to all my reviewers which would be freakianimegal456, killerbunbun, and Onihime942. Thanks a lot guys, or, girls. Sorry if this chapter sucks. It'll get better, I promise!

Disclaimer:I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, there'd be scene with Kratos and cotton candy...

Chapter 6

"First," Lloyd started. "We find a weird-ass exsphere that makes Noishe try to kill me. Then, a big-ass monster freakin' comes out of nowhere and tries to tear us apart. And now for the icing on the cake, there's this creepy-ass elven dude trying to capture me. What the hell's going on!?"

"Quit complaining will you?" Margarita asked, irritated.

"I wonder who that man was?" Colette asked no one in particular. "You said he was trying to capture you?"

"Yeah. And before I met him, he was looking really hard at a statue of me." Lloyd said.

"... Well damn Lloyd, looks like you have a stalker," Margarita commented.

"Wow Lloyd, you're famous!" Colette chirped, oblivious to what Margarita really meant.

"I get the feeling he isn't a fan..." Lloyd trailed. "He said he was supposed to capture me. That it was his job."

"That's it! I know who he is!" Margarita clapped her hands together triumphetly.

"Who?"

"He's..."

"Yeah?"

"A child molestor!!"

Silence.

"What's with those looks?" Margarita asked. "There are some real sickos out there... Waiting for naive children to cross their paths... So that they can do 'stuff' with them."

"T-that's-" Colette started.

"DISGUSTING!!!" Lloyd finished. "Where the hell do you come up with this shit!?"

"I'm not 'coming up' with anything!" Margarita said defensively. "It's the truth!"

"But I'm like seventeen! And so was he!"

"Doesn't matter how old you are! The only other guess I have is that he's gay."

"I don't want to hear this!"

"But-!"

"La la I'm not listening! La la," Lloyd sang as he covered his ears .

"Don't you ignore me! I'm a lady!"

"... You sure about that?"

Margarita's eyes flashed as she kicked Lloyd to the ground in a very Raine-like fashion. She then got a heavy rock, held it over her head, and then-

"Look, I see smoke!" Colette pointed to the horizon.

"Smoke? Look Colette, I'm really busy right now so if you would-"

"No, I mean smoke from a village!"

"Village? About time!" Margarita threw the rock down (thankfully not on Lloyd).

The smoke had indeed come from a village, a village called Mizuho.

"Whoa! They were serious about moving to Sylvarant!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"It looks like it got bigger," Colette said.

"Let me guess, you've been here too, right?" asked Margarita.

"Uh huh. Oh! I wonder if Sheena's here?"

"Sheena?"

"She's another friend of ours."

"Ah..."

"Let's go say hi!" Lloyd suggested. "We'll introduce you, Margarita."

So they went to the Chiefs house, which still remained in the center of the village. Lloyd went to the door, but couldn't open it.

"Man, how does this thing open!?" Lloyd pushed on the door.

"It slides, remember?" said Colette.

"Oh yeah... My bad." Lloyd laughed sheepishly and _slid _the door open. When everyone was in, he _slid _the door close, a little too hard though.

"Yipe!!"

"Noishe what's-" Lloyd stopped when he realized what was wrong. He had accidently slammed the door on Noishe's poor, fluffy tail.

"Oh, goddess-! Noishe I'm so sorry!" Lloyd fretted as he _slid_ the door open and examined his pet's tail.

"hoooooowl!!" (My tail!! You bastard!!)

"Is he okay?" Colette asked worridly.

"Doesn't look broken. He's fine," Margarita diagnosed.

"Noishe, I'm sorry," Lloyd apologized sadly. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

"huff"

"Sounds like he's still pissed," a voice called from behind. They turned to see the raven haired, female ninja, Sheena Fujibayashi

"Sheena!" Colette cried.

"Sup?" Sheena winked.

"Sheena, we were looking for you!" Lloyd said. He pointed to Margarita. "This our new friend Margarita, whose last name I can't remember."

"I'm Sheena Fujibayashi. Nice to meet you," Sheena respectfully bowed down.

"I'm Margarita Juliana del Rosa Alajandra Hernandez the Third." Margarita awkwardly bowed also.

"Whoa, and I thought _I_ had a long name."

"Yeah I get that a lot."

"Sooooo... What brings you guys here?"

"Well, we _were _collecting exspheres," Lloyd started. "But we keep bumping into really crazy things..."

"Well I have the time. Why don't you take a break and tell me about it?"

"Sounds good to me."

"You guys make yourselves at home. I'll get some food for you guys."

Pretty soon, they were all sitting cross legged at a low table. The meal consisted of ramen with chopsticks sticking out of the bowl. Margarita stared at them blankly.

"Are we supposed to eat the sticks?" she asked.

"Noo," Sheena said. "You eat _with_ them. Like this." Sheena demonstrated by expertly picking up a hunk of noodles and placing them into her mouth. Margarita tried to do the same, but failed miserably, as the noodles slipped off the sticks.

"Keep practicing, you'll get it, maybe. Now, why don't you guys tell about what's happened."

"Well, it started after we met Margarita. Me and Colette were-"

"Getting their asses kicked by thugs, and _I _had to save them." Margarita just _had_ to add in her ten cents.

"We were doing fine without you!!" Lloyd yelled.

"Bullshit!! You'd probably be buried in a hole somewhere if it weren't for me!!"

"Bitch!!"

"Dumbass!!"

"Does this happen a lot?" Sheena asked Colette.

"Increasingly," the blonde sighed.

"Well then, why don't _you_ tell me what happen?"

Colette told Sheena the whole story (with no interruptions from the other two), starting from the thugs, then the strange exsphere, the monster, and finally, the assassin.

"This assassin, can you descibe him?" Sheena asked.

"Well, I've never seen a person like him," Lloyd said. "He had pointed ears, like an elf. But he had dark brown skin. And his hair was blue."

"An elf with brown skin... That's really odd. Maybe he was an halfling. What other race of people have brown skin?"

"The people of Triet have tanned skin..." Colette said innocently.

"Not that dark though."

"He said he wanted to capture me, not assasinate me," Lloyd said.

"I say he's a child molestor," Margarita said boldly. "That, or he's gay."

"He's not a child molestor!!!" Lloyd shouted. "Why do you keep bringing that up!?!?"

"Sheesh, touchy."

Awkward silence.

"W-well why don't you tell me about monster then?" Sheena asked, desperately wanting to break the silence.

"It was really big and had black skin, which was rotting away," Colette described.

"Nothing hurt it," Margaria started. "Mine and Lloyd's attacks did absolutely nothing. And Colette's magic only surprised it, just a little."

"How'd you kill it, then?" asked Sheena. "You did kill it... Right?"

"Well... We sorta got it to jump off a cliff." Lloyd scratched his neck, knowing he probably sounded stupid.

"Okay then..."

"A-anyway, we're heading for Tethe'alla. We promised Linar we'd give this exsphere to Professor. Any idea how we could get there?"

"Well, it just so happens that I'm heading to Tethe'alla as well. I could escort you there, if you want."

"Really? That'd be great!"

"To hell with this shit!" Margarita shouted, tossing the chopsticks over her shoulder. She then began shoveling the food into her mouth using her hands.

"All right then," Sheena laughed. "We'll leave in ten minutes. Better finish your food Margarita."

Meanwhile, the young elven man was perched in a tree just outside a window staring hard at them with his narrowed, cold, blue eyes.

"Tethe'alla..." he muttered softly to himself. "Father told me about that place, but shouldn't it be separated from here? To think, these are our descendants..."

"Hey you!" a voice called.

Startled, the elf fell backwards from out of the tree (not very coordinated, huh?). He hastily scrambled to his feet, to meet the eyes of one of the Mizuhohen (is that how you would say it?) villagers.

"Ummm..."

"You must be a spy!" the man accused. "I have to tell the chief!"

"You're not telling anyone, anything." the elf said darkly. He walked slowly to the frightened villager.

"S-stay back!! I'm warning you!!"

"Hoenir, silence thy foolish enemy." the elf chanted raising two fingers to the man's forehead.

"S-stop!!"

"Restriction!!"

VGA:Dun dun dun... Will the villager live!? Probably. Anyway, just to get this straight, the strange elven dude is not gay or a child molestor. It was just a joke I decided to throw in. I'm not into shonen ai, yaoi, shojo ai, yuri, or any of that other stuff. My apologies if you _are _into that kind of stuff. Well, later.


	7. Chapter 7

VGA:Okay, before I introduce this next chapter...

RenzokukenZ: I have no idea who this Cid guy is. I don't play Final Fantasy, please don't kill me... Thanks for reviewing anyway

The Akemi Queen Of Sakia:I scratch your back, you scratch mine, huh? Ugh, I hate that saying... Thanks for the review though

VGA:Now for Chapter 7

Disclaimer:I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, Regal would of gotten Athlete's foot. How funny would that had been?

Chapter 7

"He won't respond?"

"No."

"You've tried using medicines?"

"Yes, and they all failed."

"He still has a pulse though?"

"Correct."

"Hmm... What happened to him?"

They had found one of the villagers, collapsed. At first, they thought he was dead. However, after being diagnosed by one of the village doctors, they confirmed that he was alive but unable to move or speak. He was still conscious.

"Who could of done such a thing?" Colette asked.

"Who knows?" Sheena said. "But whoever did it is a very powerful magician."

"What kind of magic is this?" Lloyd asked.

"...I don't know. It seems familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen it."

"..." Margarita was lost in thought.

"What should we do?" said Colette.

"Well, the only thing I can think of is find Raine and ask her to check him out."

"Then, we're still heading to Tethe'alla?"

"Yep, we're leaving now." Sheena stood up and exited out the house, and Lloyd and Colette did the same. Margarita remained seated.

"Margarita, you coming?" Lloyd called before he stepped outside.

"Wha-? Oh yeah," Margarita sat up and walked to Lloyd.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Y-yeah. Just thinking. You think maybe that elf dude has something to do with all this? Elves do magic, right?"

"Well, maybe. He never used magic when we fought though."

"W-well, it's just a thought." Without another word, the red head left.

_What's with her?_ Lloyd thought.

"Whoa! You kept the EC all this time!?" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Of course," Sheena answered. "I need some way of getting back and forth from Sylvarant and Tethe'alla."

"By the way Sheena," Colette asked. "Why are you heading for Tethe'alla anyway?"

"I have something to give to the Meltokio Council, that's all. Now, everyone get in."

Everyone filed into the small packaging unit after waving to the people of Mizuho who were seeing them off.

"Come back safely!"

"Be careful!"

"Watch for monsters!"

And off they went.

"Damn, they're leaving," muttered the elf who was hunting Lloyd down. He had watched them sail off from a cliff overlooking the sea. "I need a boat, but where?" Almost as if Martel herself had willed it, a small boat sailed close to where the cliff was.

"Damn, that's convenient," the elf said matter-of-factly. "A little shitty, but as long as it can float." Taking a deep breath, he leapt from the cliff and landed smoothly onto the boat's small deck. He stood up and looked around for any signs of life.

"What the hell!?!?" a voice literally screamed. The elf turned around to see a rugged, filthy old man with a cigarette in his mouth, looking pissed.

"Sir, I ne-"

"And look what you've done to the floorboards!!!" The elf looked down to see that he had left imprints of his feet on the boards due to his landing.

"I apologize. Could you give me a ride to Tethe'alla? It's urgent."

"Hell no!!! You little bastard!!! You ruin my precious ship, then you ask for a ride!?!? You better fork over some cash to pay for this!!!"

"No can do. If you won't comply, then I have no choice."

Minutes later, the filthy old captain was thrown off the ship into the blue sea. The elf then tossed over a lifesaver (No, not the candy). He looked over the ship, called out," I'd start paddling if I were you." and then went over to the ship's wheel.

"Next stop, Tethe'alla."

**Two hours later**

"I'm soooo bored," Lloyd complained for the thirteenth time.

"And I'm soooo ready to kick your ass if you don't shut the hell up!!" Margarita shouted.

"I'd like to see you try!"

"You know what-!?" Margarita was about to lunge forward and strangle Lloyd, but Noishe's big, furry body got in her way.

"Will the two of you _both_ shut up!?" Sheena yelled over her shoulder, as she was driving the EC. "Tethe'alla's about half an hour away, try not to kill eachother until then." Lloyd and Margarita huffed and looked away from eachother.

"Lloyd, why don't you show Sheena the exsphere?" Colette suggested.

"Oh yeah, we never showed you, did we Sheena?" Lloyd stood up and walked up to Sheena. "Could you two hold down Noishe, in case he, you know." Margarita and Colette nodded and grabbed the scruff of Noishe's neck.

"Here it is," Lloyd held out the black exsphere. All at once Noishe began snarling and attempted to break free of the girls' grip.

"What's wrong with him?" Sheena asked.

"That's what I want to know too."

"This exsphere, it's black?"

"Mmph," Margarita grimaced as Noishe pulled away harder. "Lloyd, we can't hold him down much longer."

But we all know Lloyd...

"Man, can you imagine the look on Professor's face when she sees this thing?" he laughed.

"Yeah, she'll be in total Ruin-Mode," Sheena joked.

"Lloyd!! We can't-!" Colette gasped as Noishe suddenly broke free and dashed straight toward Lloyd. The swordsman couldn't react in time and was pinned to the wall, Noishe tearing at his arm which clutched the exsphere.

"Noishe!! Stop!!" Lloyd yelled.

"Noishe, what're you doing!?" Sheena cried. She tried to pry the dog off Lloyd, but Noishe was far too strong.

"Damn it!!" Margarita ran up to the rabid animal and smacked him in the side of the head, causing him to release his master's arm. He began to whimper piteously.

"Lloyd, are you okay!?" Colette was at Lloyd's side in a heartbeat.

"Y-yeah..." Lloyd barely managed.

"You don't look allright," Sheena asked, concerned.

"That's because it's the same arm," Margarita commented. "Lloyd, you need to get rid of that thing."

"I'll never get rid of Noishe!!" Lloyd shot back, clutching his wounded arm.

"Not _Noishe_," Margarita huffed. "I meant the exsphere."

"O-oh... But we're supposed to take it to the Professor..."

"Whatever, it's your dog."

Colette, who had been observing Lloyd's arm, looked out the window and gasped, her face paling.

"Hey, Colette, what's wrong?" asked Sheena.

"L-look!!" Colette pointed out the window. They turned around and gasped also. The EC was heading straight for a cluster of jagged rocks.

"Whoa!!"

"Don't just stand there!!" Margarita panicked. "Turn us around!!"

"I'm trying!!" Sheena was desperately trying to turn the wheel with one hand, mashing several buttons down with the other. "It's no use, the wheel's jammed!"

"Must be from when I hit it," Lloyd realized.

"We're gonna crash!!" Colette shrieked.

"Give me that!" Margarita pulled hard at the wheel.

"Stop! You can't force it like that!" Sheena yelled, and also grabbed the wheel.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Margarita pulled the wheel to her side.

"I'ts my EC!" Sheena pulled back.

"So!?"

"Let go!!"

"No, you let go!!"

"I mean it!!"

"Fine!!" Margarita let go. However, Sheena, who was using all her strength, was still pulling, which caused her to rip off the whole wheel from it's post.

"Great! Now we're totally screwed!!" Margarita yelled, tugging at her hair.

"If you hadn't messed with it!!"

"Don't blame me for all this!! It's that stupid dog's fault!!"

"It's not Noishe's fault!!" Lloyd intervened. "It's the damn exsphere!!"

"Then throw it away!!"

"What the hell's the point!?"

"You tell me!!"

While they were arguing, the small vessel was mere inches from the rocks. Colette began to scream, as did the others. The EC crashed into a particularly large, jagged rock, causing it's hull to cave in. The inside bagan to fill with salty sea water.

"We have to think of something!!" Lloyd called over the roar of the water coming in. He winced as the sea water splashed against his wound.

"Our wings Lloyd!!" Colette yelled.

"Oh yeah! Everyone, get to the top!!" Sheena pushed up onto the hatch above them. Lloyd slipped the exsphere into his pocket and waited until everyone, including Noishe, had gone ahead of him before going up himself. Once everyone was on top of the sinking vessel, the two angels unfurled their wings. Colette grabbed both Sheena and Margarita by the wrists while Lloyd, with the help of his new Angelic strength, was able to awkwardly lift Noishe up and carry him. They hovered in the sky and watched as the EC slowly sank beneath the surface.

"Whew, that was too close," Lloyd sighed.

"What now?" asked Colette.

"Guess we fly the rest of the way."

"I can see Tethe'alla from here," said Sheena. "But it's about twenty minutes away. You sure you two can make it that far?"

"We really don't have a choice... Lets go." And with that, they began their flight.

VGA:Man, I feel bad for those guys... Anyway, I had no idea how the reunited worlds would be like. So I decided that Sylvarant and Tethe'alla would still be the same, just separate continents. There are other theories though. Many authors were a lot a more creative than I was about the formation of Symphonia. Oh, and you may have noticed that the boat driver was the same guy from Chapter One. The cigarette gave it way.


	8. Chapter 8

VGA:Sup? This is Announcer Dude.

AD:I'm Announcer Dude

VGA:He's the dude who announces.

AD:Damn right

VGA:And he's gonna announce the chapters from now on. In other words, my muse.

AD:Da- Wait, what?

VGA:You heard me

AD:Why can't you do it?

VGA:Cause I'm far too superior to announce my own chapters

AD:Damn. Here's Chapter 7

Disclaimer:I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, you could kill off Genis and get Yuan on your team.

Chapter 7

Breathing heavily, sweat dripping off their bodies. Tethe'alla was so close, yet it seemed like miles away.

"Come on guys, you're almost there," Sheena urged.

Drawing in a shaky breath, Colette weakly nodded. Her angel strength was beginning to fail her, she felt like her body was far too heavy for her wings. The same could be said for her swordsman friend. Noishe weighed at least two hundred pounds, not only that, but Lloyd hadn't fixed his arm, which ached terribly. His vision was becoming blurred, and the damned sun's heat wasn't making it any better.

"T-this... is hell..." Lloyd gasped.

"I know what you mean," Margarita said.

"You don't know shit! You're just here for the ride!" Lloyd snapped, suddenly forgetting about his weariness.

"Oh, shut up Lloyd! It's hard hanging here, my arm hurts!"

"...Lazy bitch..."

Margarita then swung her foot upward and kicked Lloyd in the side, causing him to slightly lose his balance.

"How'd you like that you stupid jerk!?" she sneered. "Want more!?"

"No fair! My hands are full! You know Colette, you'd be doing us a big favor if you dropped her..."

"Please... j-just stop..." Colette muttered, completely exhausted.

"... You okay Colette?" Lloyd was instantly concerned.

C-can't..." Colette panted heavily.

"Hm?"

"So... tired..." Without warning, Colette closed her eyes and began fall out of the sky like a dead weight.

"COLETTE!!!" Lloyd dive bombed down, keeping one arm around Noishe and using the other to grab Colette around the waist. Sheena and Margarita were still clutching the blonde's arms for dear life. However, this added about three hundred and fifty more pounds to the weight Lloyd was attempting was already attempting to carry, and they continued to keep falling. Lloyd flapped his wings furiously, vainly trying to prevent their fall into the ocean.

"We're falling!!" Margarita shrieked.

"Hooooowl!!" Noishe howled.

"Oh shut up!!"

Sheena suddenly realized something, and called out, "I summon thee, Aska!!"

In a flash of blinding light, the marvelous two-headed phoenix appeared beneath them. They all landed in a carpet of soft feathers, unharmed. Margarita lifted herself up slowly, looked down at the feathers, the bird, and then Sheena, who crawled to one of the summon spirit's heads and said, "Keep flying till we get to Meltokio."

"How..?" Margarita started, but was interrupted by Sheena.

"I'll explain later," she said. "We need to check these two out." She went to Colette, who had passed out.

"She fainted, but she'll be fine. Margarita, how's Lloyd?"

The redhead was at Lloyd's side.

"Hey Lloyd, you okay?"

"W-where's Colette?" he said weakly.

"Well aren't you a knight in shining armor. She's okay."

"Good," and with that, he closed his eyes.

"Hm, he's out cold. Eew, look at his arm."

She lifted up his wounded arm, which was red and and bloody.

"Looks like it's infected," Sheena said grimly.

"Yuck!!" Margarita threw down Lloyd's arm. "Can you fix it?"

"Well, all our supplies sunk down with the EC," Sheena said. "The only thing we can do now is go to Meltokio, and maybe take him to a doctor. Colette too." Noishe walked up to his master and nudged his cheek.

"Damn dog," Margarita growled. "This is all your fault."

Noishe whined and tucked his tail between his legs.

The sun began to set.

"It's getting dark," the elf looked up at the darkening sky. He cursed. The piece of shit he had hijacked was so slow, and the ship Lloyd was on had long since disappeared from his line of vision. Things were going to get a lot more tougher. A new ally had joined Lloyd's group, and that redheaded girl was still with them. His eyes narrowed when he thought of her. That bitch had single handedly defeated him without breaking a sweat. He would have to change tactics.

"It's never easy," he mummered, rubbing his temples. He then heard a thump and looked over the railing. There was something in the water. He drew his staff and used it to fish the thing out. When he brought it up, he saw that the thing was actually a wheel to a vessel that had been torn off. He looked more closely into the water and saw more broken ship's parts.

"Someone must of had an accident..." he mused. Wait, these parts looked familiar. They looked like the parts from the vessel he was tailing...

"Son of a bitch!!" he cursed. "What do I do now!? Fish out his corpse!?" The elf began to repeatedly bang his head against the railing, till he saw something glimmer on top of the surface. Leaning closer, he saw what it was.

"A feather?" he said. "That isn't an ordinary feather. I wonder..."

**The Next Day**

_Lloyd,_ a voice beckoned. Lloyd groaned. He was still alive?

_Lloyd, wake up!_

"Colette...?" Lloyd opened his eyes. With his vision blurred, all he could see was a distorted image of red and pink. ...Red and pink? Wait a minute... Lloyd's eyes focused, and who he saw was-

"HOLY SHIT!!!" Lloyd shot up, his heart racing.

"I save your life, and this is the thanks I get? That's pretty cold, Bud."

"Zelos!? Where-!?" Lloyd looked freaked out. Well he _was_ freaked out.

"Sheesh man, calm down!" said the red headed Chosen. "We're at my house!"

Lloyd looked around and realized he was in one's of Zelos' comfy beds. Zelos was standing next to the bed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh and by the way," he smirked. "Your lovely angel is in already downstairs with everyone else."

Lloyd blushed. "W-what do you mean my 'angel'!?"

"Whatever man, you're madly in love."

"No I'm-!"

"Lloyd, you're allright!" Colette suddenly came into the room, followed by Sheena, Margarita, and Noishe.

"Course I am! How do you feel?" Lloyd grinned. Zelos rolled his eyes in amusement.

"I'm okay. I'm sorry if I worried you."

"About time you woke your lazy ass up," Margarita huffed.

"How'd we get here anyway?" Lloyd asked.

"Well, we were flying, Colette passed out, Sheena called out a big ass bird-"

"I summoned Aska," Sheena corrected. "We landed in Meltokio and that's when we met this guy with his group of bimbos."

"Yep! And I even fixed your arm Bud, free of charge!" Zelos then roughly patted Lloyd's injured arm, who responded by clutching the bandaged limb in pain. "My bad, it's probably still sore."

"I figured that," Lloyd grumbled.

"Sooo, you wanna tell me why you guys are here? Or did you just miss me?"

"We're looking for the Professor and trying to collect whatever exspheres we can find."

"Hmm, how 'bout you?" Zelos turned to Margarita. "I believe we haven't been properly introduced, since you just cussed me out and went to bed."

"Hey, I was cranky," Margarita shrugged. "I am Margarita Juliana del Rosa Alejandra Hernandez the Third."

"Sexy name for a sexy girl," Zelos said. "I am the Great Zelos Wilder."

"Zelos Wilder? Who came up with that shit?"

"Ooh, feisty. Zelos likes..."

"Why you-!" Margarita was about punch Zelos in the face, when the door opened and in came Sebastian, Zelos' butler.

"Ah, Master Zelos," he said in a fancy accent. "I have a letter from the king about your request."

"Why thank you, Sebastian," Zelos took the letter.

"Request? Huh?" Lloyd was confused.

"Sir Bud, I see you've recovered."

"It's Lloyd. And what request?"

"Oh, well, you see," started Zelos. " I heard about you and your lovely angel's journey to collect exspheres. So, being the awesome friend that I am, I made a request to the king to destroy the exspheres powering the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge."

"Really? That's awesome! Thanks Zelos!" Lloyd beamed.

"My pleasure Bud."

"But wait," interrupted Sheena. "How will the bridge operate without a powersource?"

"Well, I was talking with Regal, and he said he might of found a way to replace the power of exspheres with something else. Don't know what it is though, I'm supposed to pick it up. Until then, the Bridge is still operating."

"Hm, hey Zelos, have you heard anything about Raine?"

"Uh huh! She was here a few days ago with Genis, trying to give a speech about half elf equality."

"How'd it go?"

"The crowd threw fruit at them."

"Okay then... Did they say where they were headed?"

"I think... Sybak... Don't know if they're still there though."

"Well in that case," Lloyd began, while getting out of the bed. "We oughta get going, no use just sitting here."

"Thanks for helping us Zelos," Colette said politely.

"Aww, anything for you guys," Zelos laughed. "Oh, and you do realize that I'm coming with you?"

"Why do _you_ wanna come?" Sheena spat rather rudely than intended.

"Well, you guys seem to have a lot on your plates, what with an child molestor chasing you."

"He's not a child molestor!! Damn it Margarita!!"

Margarita snickered.

" Allright then," Zelos continued. "I need to go to Altamira anyway." Raising an eyebrow and smirking slightly, he added, "how about you, my voluptuous hunny? Why are _you_ travelling with them? You took care of all that stuff with the king."

"Well you see," the ninja began. "That creepy kidnapper did some weird magic on one of my villagers. I was hoping Raine could maybe help him."

"Well how about you?" Zelos turned his attention to Margarita. "You just here for the ride?"

"Basically" the red head shrugged.

"Well then," the Chosen clapped his hands together gleefully. "Lets get going!"

Everyone filed out the door, except Margarita.

"Lloyd," she called, just as the swordsman was about to leave.

"What's up?"

"Listen, I'm just gonna get to the point," she crossed her arms. Lloyd blinked.

"Okay..." he said uncertainly.

"How long have you fought with two swords?" 

"About a year."

"Who taught you?" 

"Um, I learned on my own. My... Dad trained me a little."

"Hm, how many times have you fought alone?"

Lloyd tilted his head quizzically.

"Like only twice. Why are you asking me this?"

"Oh, no reason," Margarita walked towards the door, turned around, and added, "Let me just tell you this, Mr.Hero. You're not always gonna have us to back you up." She then left, leaving a confused Lloyd to mull over what she had just said.

AD:Margarita's a real bitch. She reminds me of you, VGA.

VGA:Screw you

AD:See what I mean?

VGA:Anyway, a lot of you probably know where I got the name, Mr.Hero, from.

AD:It's from Zelda, oh wait...

VGA:...

AD:...My bad.

VGA:I should have left you at Screw Ups...


	9. Chapter 9

VGA:Here's Chapter Nine. I'm hoping that this fic's gonna be at least fifty chapters long, or more.

AD:Whoa, are you serious!?

VGA:Hey, I've seen fics that are like over a hundred chapters long, and they're _still _in progress.

AD:Well, it's gonna take a lot of commitment, especially for you...

VGA:I know that. Now go make yourself useful and announce the next chapter.

AD:Fine. Selfish bitch.

VGA:Say what?

AD:Here's Chapter Nine!

Disclaimer:I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, the characters would of gone to Disneyland at the end.

Chapter Nine

The group decided that the most reasonable thing to do would be to restock on supplies. The previous ones had gone down with the ship. It was a good thing that Zelos had decided to tag along, a lot of their cash was also gone, and we all know that Zelos is loaded (He lives in a mansion for Christ's sake). Lloyd was currently sitting on a bench alone with Noishe while the others were shopping. Margarita's words had replayed in his head several times as he pet the dog's head.

_Let me just tell you this Mr. Hero. You're not always gonna have us to back you up._

What had she meant by that? The statement had come out of nowhere, and she seemed to have been dying to tell him that for quite some time. Did she think Lloyd was weak, and unable to take care of himself? It sure sounded like that... Maybe she was just giving him some advice. But for what? Margarita seemed a lot like someone he knew. Like... like...

Lloyd yawned and stretched, but stopped when a person outside had caught his attention. This person had dark brown skin and blue hair, along with pointed ears. The strange elf. He was walking around, looking very out of place and earning strange looks from pedestrians. Lloyd tensed and stood up, debating on what to do. The guy hadn't noticed him yet, maybe he could slip away and hide in a shop... but that seemed so pathetic and undignified. He was the Eternal Swordsman, the one who had reunited both worlds and resurrected the Yggdrasil Tree. No way he was going to wuss out, and then be the laughing stock of Margarita's cruel jokes. But wait, why should he give a damn about what _she_ thought? Screw her! But there was still his dignity...

Lloyd snapped back to earth and wiped some drool off the side of his mouth. That always happened when he thought too hard. Now then, back to the elf dude...

_Man, this place is too damn cheerful,_ the strange elf thought miserably. _Why'd __**I**_ _have to go get this Lloyd dude? Why couldn't they send Tyr instead? That blockhead never has to do anything. It sucks being the youngest... Hey, a fruit stand!_

The elf then walked over to a fruit stand that had caught his eye. _I should bring something as a souvenier for everyone. To hell with that stupid Tyr._ As he was browsing, he became aware of a presence next to him. His hand instantly flew to his weapon, but stopped when he realized that his 'enemy' was actually a small little girl dressed in tattered clothing, looking hungrily at the luscious fruits.

"..." without even thinking, the elf reached out and grabbed a ripe apple off the stand. He held it to the little girl, who took a step back.

"You're hungry right?" the elf said. "Take it." The little girl stared at him for a while, then reluctantly took the apple. She ran off, looked over at the strange elf, and then took off again. The elf smiled slightly, and was about to walk off, until he felt a hand clamp heavily down on his shoulder. He turned around to meet the face of a very ticked off looking man, who obviously owned the stand. There were two scary looking knights standing close by.

"I hope that you plan on paying for that," he said, eyes narrowing.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," the elf began to search through his pockets. He then pulled out a handful of foreign looking coins and gave them to the man. He gave them a scruntinizing look.

"What is this? This isn't money."

"...It isn't?"

"No. What are these, bottle caps?"

_They must have a different form of currency here,_ the elf thought.

"Well, this is all I have. I hope you accept it."

"The only thing we accept is real gald, not these conterfeit fakes."

"... Gald?" _What kind of a named is __**gald**__? These people are so primitive._

"Are you one of those pathetic half elves who live in the slums? If so, maybe you need someone to teach you where your place is." The two buff knights that were standing close by stepped forward, cracking their knuckles murderously.

"Stupid idiots. Do you know who you're messing with?" The elf drew out his baton-sized weapon.

"Aw look," one man taunted. "The priss is gonna cheerlead!"

The elf raised his weapon and was about to make it convert to a long staff, when someone said cheerfully to him, "Hey Cuz! There you are!" The elf froze, the voice was familiar. He turned around to see-

"You...!"

"I've been looking all over for you!" Lloyd said with a goofy smile.

"???" (You'd be freaked out too)

"You know eachother?" The fruit guy said skeptically (I give them awesome names, don't I?).

"Uh huh. We're cousins! Right Cuz?" Lloyd slung an arm around the elf's neck, like a close friend would. The elf was too shocked to respond. "He's a bit on the retarded side, so yeah."

"_Excuse me?_" the elf sneered, offended. (Like Lloyd had the nerve to talk)

Lloyd whispered lightly into his pointed ear, "Play along."

"Cousins?" asked the fruit guy.

"Uh huh!"

"You two don't even look alike."

"We're distant cousins!"

"Whatever, your 'cousin' owes me some cash. Are _you _gonna pay for it?"

"Sure!" Lloyd dug out some gald and gave to the man, who bit a coin to make sure it was real (I don't get why they do that).

"You're clean," he said nonchalantly.

"Well, we should get going." Lloyd led the elf away, who said, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Hey, I was just helping you."

"I didn't need your help, and why would you want to help me?"

"I dunno. Why would you want to help that little girl?" The elf tensed and looked at him.

"You saw that," he muttered.

"Why are you so gloomy? You did a good deed. You don't seem like a bad guy."

"..."

Meanwhile, Noishe was still at the fruit stand, eyeballing a juicy mango.

"Get away mutt," the fruit guy spat, while counting his gald. Instead, the furry dog thing stood up on his hind legs and snatched the mango with his teeth, along with the the blanket the fruit was on. He made a mad dash toward his owner with the blanket trailing from his mouth, making him resemble Super Dog. The whole cart was knocked down, smashed fruit strewn across the cobblestone floors.

"Why you-!! Get those brats!!"

The knights began to run towards them. Lloyd turned around, said, "Oh shit!" then began to run, Noishe and the elf close behind. Lucky for them, the knights' heavy armor slowed them down dramatically, giving the three a good head start. They ran, not really thinking about where to go specifically, just to get as far away from their pursuers as possible. When they had turned one sharp corner, they stopped and settled down.

"Man that was close," Lloyd commented, panting, but with a smile on his face.

"Where is this place?" the elf asked, looking around.

Lloyd took in his surroundings, and said, "The Meltokio Slums."

Indeed, they were in the danky, dirty slums of Meltokio, close by the small stream coming from the sewers. Something anguished seemed to flicker into the elf's eyes, just for a second, then they held the same stoic appearance.

"The little girl probably came from here," Lloyd went on. "I wonder where her family is. Like I said, you did a nice thing."

"..."

"Well, I should get going," Lloyd turned to leave. "The others are probably-"

"You're not going anywhere."

Lloyd turned to face the hard expression of his 'enemy', who had drawn his weapon. "Even if you did assist me, I still have a mission to complete."

"I figured that. That's why I came prepared. Noishe, fetch!" Lloyd then threw a piece of mango at the confused elf. On cue, Noishe ran forward and headbutted the elf in the stomach, sending him straight into the mucky stream.

"Good boy!" Lloyd pet the dog's head. "Now let's go find the others." Lloyd saddled himself up on Noishe, and took off.

AD:Noishe likes mangos?

VGA:Yeah

AD:Okaay... Why?

VGA:Don't know. I went to a farm once and they had golden retrievers that fetched and peeled oranges, so yeah...

AD:...


	10. Chapter 10

VGA:Sup? Don't have much to say except enjoy

AD:Heres Chapter Ten

VGA:Wait, Chapter Ten? When'd we get to Chapter Ten?

AD:Um, just now? You did Chapter Nine about a few days ago.

VGA:Damn, time flys when you're torturing people.

AD:...

Disclaimer:I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, you could use Noishe to sic Mithos.

Chapter Ten

"Lloyd, if you don't mind me asking, where were you all that time?" Sheena asked.

"Yeah Bud! We were worried about you!" came Zelos.

Lloyd was silent for a moment, debating on whether or not to tell them about his encounter with the so-called "assassin". Finally, he said, "I was just looking around. I wanted to see if Meltokio had changed much."

He didn't really want to worry everyone about the elf, he hadn't done anything to Lloyd. Well, he _tried _to, but he failed. Plus, he didn't seem like a bad person, after all, he helped that little girl. No cold hearted assassin would do that. He was just like Sheena.

"Well, here we are!" Zelos announced as they came to the Tethe'alla Bridge.

"Hold up a second," Margarita said, crossing her arms. "We have to actually _walk_ on that? That'll take forever! Sheena, can't you just summon the bird thing and get it to fly us across?"

"I only summon the Spirits when needed," Sheena said with the air of a dignified chief. "To summon them for foolish purposes like that would be like mocking them. Plus, I'm still pissed that you crashed my EC!"

"_I_ crashed it?" Margarita shot back. "Stupid Lloyd was the one who jammed the controls!"

"Why're you blaming _me _for!?" Lloyd yelled. "You made the wheel break off!"

"No, Sheena broke it, remember!?"

"Cause you wouldn't let the damn thing go!"

"It's still your fault! You took out that exsphere, even though you knew Noishe would snap! It's all _your _fault!!"

"Oh, yeah!? Well you-"

Lloyd stopped as a sound from far away reached his sensitive ears.

"What? Got nothing to say back?" Margarita sneered. Then added, "You suck!"

"Shh!"

Margarita twitched. "Don't you 'shh' me! I'll turn your ass into grass!!"

"I hear something...!"

"Bullshit! You're just making up-"

"No, I hear it too!" Colette gasped.

"Where's it coming from?" Lloyd asked looking around. The sound, it sounded like crashing. No, like footsteps. He closed his eyes, trying to better concentrate on the deafening footfalls. Then, he was able to pinpoint the location of the noise, which was near the ocean. He opened his eyes, looked toward the beach, and gasped, his face paling.

"Lloyd, what's-" Colette looked in the same direction, and let out a petrified shriek.

On the horizon, just barely submerging from the sea and onto the sandy shores, was the same black creature they had encountered before. Hearing Colette's cry, it mechanically turned it's head to the noise, and unleashed an almighty roar which seemed to shake the earth. It stalked toward the paralyzed group.

"What the hell is that thing?" Zelos asked, horrified.

"T-the thing... That t-tried to kill us," Margarita stammered, remembering how the creature had nearly made a meal out of her.

"We have to run!"

The group then began to run up the steps to the bridge. That's when Lloyd had one of his oh so rare ideas. He stopped and said, "Everyone, go ahead of me! I'll catch up!"

"Are you serious!?" Sheena looked at Lloyd as though he were about commit suicide (well considering what he was up against, it was like suicide).

"Just trust me! I'll be right there!"

"No Lloyd. I won't leave you here with that thing!" Colette looked Lloyd straight in the eyes, determination blazing.

"Colette," Lloyd placed his hands on the blonde's shoulders. "I'll be okay. I promise! Have I ever broken my promises to you?"

No, he hadn't. He promised to make her the unfinished necklace, and he did. He promised he would cure her from her Angelus Toxicosis, and he did that too. He promised to reunite the two worlds, and he suceeded .

"Then... promise you'll be careful," Colette whispered sadly.

"I promise."

"Lloyd, just what are you planning to do?" asked Zelos warily.

"You'll see. Just hurry up and get completely across the bridge."

Everyone, except Lloyd, made a mad dash across the brindge. The swordsman instead went to the control booth, which operated the bridge. He stared blankly at the confusing buttons and levers.

"This is gonna be harder then I thought," Lloyd scratched the back of his neck. Checking to make sure everyone had safely made it across the other side, which they had, he pressed one of the buttons. All at once, deafening alarms and sirens went off, and the lights blinked on and off repeatedly. Then, flood lights turned on, shining brightly, despite the fact it was daylight. And to add the icing on the cake, a few emergency flares started to erupt into the air.

"What the hell is he doing?" asked Zelos. They were already across, waiting for their companion.

"Looks like he had this completely planned out," Margarita snorted.

"I'm worried about him," Colette said, and took a step forward. Sheena raised her arm in front of the blonde.

"No worries Colette," she said, smiling. "He'll be just fine. I'm sure he knows what he's doing."

"whine" (Like hell he does)

"Oops, wrong button. Hehe..." Lloyd sheepishly pressed the button again, which turned off all the commotion. Then he pulled down a lever, which caused the draw bridge to rise.

"Yes! I rock!" However, Lloyd's moment of glory was spoiled when the top part of the booth was forcefully ripped off. Lloyd looked up to see the rotting creature throw the roof into the ocean. Then it turned it's attention to Lloyd, who was absolutely terrified. The creature then took a swipe at him, who barely rolled out of the way just in time. Realizing that the bridge was still raising, the swordsman began to run up the rising platform. When he got to the top, he drew his wings out and leapt off. He started hovering in the air and turned toward the monster, which just stood there.

"Ha! Can't get us if there's no bridge," Lloyd mocked and flew down onto the floor. "Later, sucker." Then he began to casually walk to his friends, who were overjoyed.

"Lloyd! You're okay!" Colette engulfed Lloyd in a hug.

"Hey, I promised right?" Lloyd said, blushing, but returned the hug.

"You sure that thing can't get us?" Margarita raised an eyebrow.

"Of course! No bridge, no way for it to get us!"

"Well, fine then. Lets get going," Margarita turned to walk away, and the others followed her lead.

The monster looked toward the sky. Then, it suddenly leapt about fifty feet in the air, jumping over the gap beneath it, and landed on the other side of the bridge, leaving imprints of it's feet on the ground. The others slowly turned to look at the creature .

"Shit," Sheena cursed.

"Umm, what now?" Zelos mummered.

"We run," Margarita gulped.

"Like hell," Lloyd finished. And with that, the group ran as fast as they could, away from the beast, which took off at full speed toward it's prey.

"Where exactly are we running to!?" Sheena yelled.

"Who gives a shit!? Just run!" Lloyd yelled back.

"Can't we just fight it!?" Zelos suggested.

"No, it can't be hurt!" Colette said.

"We're so screwed!" Margarita whined helplessly.

"whiiine!!" (I don't wanna diiie!!)

The black monster was able to run around them and and stopped in front of their way, the way to land. It let out a gutteral growl.

"Looks like we _have _to fight it," Zelos said, drawing his sword. "It's worth a shot."

"Guess we have no choice," Lloyd sighed, and pulled out his own weapons.

All at once, they all ran at the beast,who made no move to attack or defend itself. Lloyd and Zelos bagan hacking away at the beast's chest. Margarita had on her brass knuckles and was trying to beat the tar out of one of it's legs, while Sheena concentrated on it's other leg with her cards. Colette stood back and started tossing her chakrams at the monster's head. Noishe curled defensively into a ball.

The creature didn't flinch at all from the party's attacks. It just stood there, completely calm. Everyone gradually realized that nothing was hurting it, and stopped their feeble attacks. The monster let out a low growl, as if saying, "Are you done yet?".

"W-why aren't our attacks working?" Sheena stammered.

Zelos stood there, as if in deep thought, then he said, "I got it!" He poised himself to prepare a spell. "Burn baby! Eruption!"

Lava appeared beneath the monster, and began to erupt uncontrollably. It's entire body was engulfed in flames. However, when the spell died down, the black creature was completely unharmed.

Margarita turned to Zelos and said blandly, "Why the hell did you do that?"

"W-well," the red headed Chosen said nervously. "I thought since it's skin was all rotton and stuff, it'd catch on fire."

"Wow, an idiot more stupid than Lloyd."

"Hey! I was thinking logically! There's something up with that thing!"

Zelos was suddenly sent flying as the creature's claw swiped him away, causing him to hit the railing of the bridge. Then, it scooped up Margarita into the air about twelve feet, and she hit the ground painfully. Lloyd could hear one of her bones break the moment she made impact.

"Margarita! Zelos!" he shouted. The creature wasn't done just yet though. Then, it made it's way to Sheena and did the same as it had done to Zelos, swat her away as though she were some kind of pest.

"Sheena!" Colette cried. "Lloyd, what do we do!?"

"I-I don't know..." Lloyd said miserably. What could they do? Physical attacks were useless, and magic hardly did anything. If Lloyd got it to jump in the ocean, it would just swim back up.

"The exsphere...!" he suddenly realized. The monster had started following them immediatly after the exesphere was in their possession. Maybe it was like a homing device or some shit like that. But, they were supposed to give it to Professor... Oh, to hell with the Professor! Their lives were on the line!! "Fine! You want this, take it!!" Lloyd heaved the black stone at the creature. It did absolutely nothing, and the monster continued to walk menacingly to the couple.

"That was totally stupid," the swordsman groaned.

"Lloyd!!" Colette screamed as the monster suddenly grabbed a hold of Lloyd around the waist, causing him to drop his swords. He twisted and tried to jerk away, but to no avail. The monster opened it's mouth as wide as it could manage. Lloyd gaped at the razor sharp teeth.

"Lloyd no!!" Colette screamed and threw one of her chakrams at it's head. It did nothing. Lloyd shut his eyes tightly as the monster began to lower him closer to it's jaws. Then, just as the creature was about to close it's mouth, it arched it's back and let out a cry of untold suffering. It twisted and writhed in pain, and then threw Lloyd down. Colette was instantly at his side.

"Lloyd! Are are you hurt!?" she fretted.

"No. But what-" Lloyd gasped when he saw what was ailing the monster, but couldn't believe it. Noishe, the most timid and completely cowardly dog in the world, was on the creature's back, tearing at it's flesh mercilessly with his jaws. The dog's normally calm blue eyes were blood red, completely savage and murderous. The creature reached one of it's elongated arms behind it's back and pulled Noishe off his back, then it tossed him to the floor. The black creature swayed to the side, and began to stumbled toward the bridge's railing. That's when Lloyd got an idea. He collected his swords from the floor, ran up to the monster, and called out, "Beast!!"

The monster was completely taken by surprise as the giant shock wave slammed to it, and fell over the side of the rails, straight into a cluster of jagged rocks. There was the sound of blood splattering, guts squishing, and bones breaking. Lloyd reluctantly looked over the side, and nearly gagged. A sharp, pointed stalagmite had pierced the creature's body. It's guts oozed out of the the gaping wound, and the rock itself was stained with blood, which was a strange purplish color. It's intestines were splattered everywhere, it's liver was dripping onto it's pelvis, it's brains dribbled from a large crack in it's skull, and-(I'm going overboard with this, aren't I?) one of it's arms was also pierced by a rock. In short, the monster was dead.

"Good riddance," Lloyd muttered.

Lloyd heard a growl behind him. He turned to see Noishe snarling at him, his eyes still red and his fur standing on end.

"N-Noishe, calm down," the swordsman said warily. Noishe didn't listen, and prepared to pounce on him. Suddenly, the dog stumbled and hit the floor, and did not get back up.

"Noishe!?"

"Lloyd!" a voice called. He turned to see-

"Genis!?"

The young half elf was running toward the swordsman with a relieved look on his face.

"Genis?" Colette asked, astonished. "How did you find us?"

"How couldn't I have found you?" Genis said. "Were you the ones who set off those emergency flares?"

"Flares...?"

"Um, yeah. That was me..." Lloyd laughed sheepishly.

"Genis, is everything allright?" then came Raine Sage, Genis' sister. "Lloyd? Colette? Why are you here?" She then suddenly noticed the two red heads, Sheena, and Noishe, all collapsed on the floor. "What in Martel's name happened here!?"

"Um, well..." Lloyd simply pointed in the direction where the beast had fallen off. The two half elves peered over the railing.

"W-what _is _that!?" Genis cried, frightened and looking ill.

"What a fascinating creature!" Professor exclaimed, her eyes turning all creepy and shit. "I must study it!!"

"Study!? Look at it!"

Raine smacked her little brother over the head. "This could be a rare creature! A breakthrough for scientific purposes! Think what we could achieve! I can't wait to dissect it!"

"Looks like it's already dissected if you ask me," Lloyd grimaced. "Just how are you gonna get it out there anyway?"

"Simple. I'll inform the scientists in Sybak of this. They can use a crane to lift it out. Now, I should check everone for injuries. You look as though you've had a rough time."

"Yeah, lets start with Margarita. I think she broke something."

"Margarita...?" asked Genis.

"I'll introduce you. I don't know her last name though..."

While thay examined the injured, they were unaware of the creature's corpse slowly mending itself together.

AD:Dun dun dun...

VGA:Why did I make you my muse...? Anyway, sorry if I was a little too descriptive with that one paragraph. You know, with the guts.

AD:She likes gory shit. She even watches Happy Tree Friends

VGA:Flippy is awesome

AD:But Cuddles is cute...

VGA:Wimp! (Slaps Announcer Dude)


	11. Chapter 11

VGA:Ooh, I've done over ten chapters. I'm so awesome.

AD:But there are some writers that have done over one hundred.

VGA:BULLSHIT!!! (Attacks Announcer Dude)

AD:Ow!! Here's Chapter Eleven! Wait, what're doing with that axe!? Why're you raising it above your head!? Wait, don't-!! AUGH!!! MY TORSO!!!!!

Disclaimer:I don't Tales of Symphonia. If I did, Zelos' hair would of caught on fire at some point.

Chapter Eleven

"Damn it!! That hurts!! Ow!!" Margarita screamed.

"If you would stop moving, it wouldn't hurt as much," Raine scolded, while trying to get the thrashing teen to hold still. They were currently resting at an inn in Sybak Raine had informed the researchers about the monster and was waiting for it's corpse to be delivered to the lab, so it could be "studied".

"Why can't you just heal it normally!?"

"I have to set it in a cast, or else the bone will be mended together crooked. Now hold still, I'm almost done," she tied the sling supporting Margarita's broken arm. Then, she pulled out her staff and raised it over the red head's arm and murmered "First Aid". A green glow spread across Margarita's arm, then it faded. Raine stood up.

"It will take about half an hour for it to fully heal. Don't do anything rash until then. Now then, why don't you tell me why you all are here?"

"Well you see," began Colette. "We wanted to show you something Linar gave us for you to study."

"Really?" the Professor's eyes began to light up at the word "study".

"Uh huh. Lloyd, show her the exsphere."

"Oh yeah!" Lloyd began to dig in his pockets, but stopped, a look of shock on his face.

"What's the matter?" asked Sheena.

"Umm..."

"_Umm_?" Zelos repeated.

"W-well you see, when that monster was trying to rip us apart, I thought that the exsphere was what made it follow us. So, I kinda threw it away..."

Silence.

"YOU WHAT!?!?" Margarita backhanded him. (With her free hand) "You stupid bastard!! What were you thinking!? The whole reason we came was because of that thing!!"

"I'm sorry!" Lloyd apologized, rubbing his sore cheek.

"SORRY!?!?" the banshee screamed again. She made an attempt to backhand him once more, but Lloyd was smart enough to duck down, causing Margarita to hit Zelos instead.

"Sis, looks like you're gonna have to heal them again," Genis stated.

"That is enough!!" Raine shouted loudly.

"Screw you!!" Margarita sneered.

Raine twitched, drew out her staff, and clobbered Margarita over the head.

"What the hell!?" Margarita shouted. Raine hit her again.

"That's enough young lady!" she scolded.

"You're not my mom! You can't tell me what do!" Raine hit her... again.

"I am a professor, and you will treat me as such. As well as your comrades."

"You know what-" Margarita stopped herself, as the halfelven women prepared to strike again. She instead grumbled, "You're lucky I have a broken arm..."

"Good girl. Now Lloyd, what is so special about an ordinary exsphere?"

"Well that's the thing, Professor," Lloyd began. "It isn't an ordinary exsphere. It's black, shaped weird, and makes Noishe go crazy, right boy?" Noishe whined in agreement. It still bugged Lloyd to no end how the lovable, timid Noishe had completely snapped and attacked that monster. He didn't even recognize Lloyd, and was about to attack him.

"How peculiar," Raine mused. "Where, exactly, did you throw it?"

"At the monster... It should still be on the bridge though-"

Just then, a knock on the door interrupted him. When Raine allowed the person admittance, the person turned out to be one of the researchers.

"You are Raine Sage, correct?" he asked. "The one who informed us about the 'creature'?"

"Yes, that is me," she declared. "So have they began the dissection yet? I would like to observe as well."

"That is the problem. You see, we looked everywhere, and searched the surrounding body of water. There were no signs of the creature you described anywhere."

Everyone was too shocked to answer.

The strange elf trailed solemnly down the dirt road.

_Again,_ he thought. _Again I lost him. And I failed the same way, being knocked into water!!_ His thoughts trailed back to the dog that had knocked him down.

_That dog was a Protozoan, I'm sure of it! It was in it's Arshis form. I'm surprised that these people were able to keep them alive to this very day._

The elf stopped, as he found himself standing in front of a hugeass bridge.

"Great, now I gotta cross this shit," he muttered bitterly. He walked up the stairs and straight passed a couple of guards, who were talking about something the elf didn't really care about.

"...A monster? Here?" one dude with a British accent asked. (Don't ask why he has a British accent, he just does)

"Yeah. It supposedly fell off the bridge," said the other. "There are some researchers from Sybak looking into it right now."

"And what of the alarms? Who set those?"

"I heard it was some kid in red. I also heard he was the one who raised the drawbridge too."

The strange elf froze. A kid in red. Lloyd. He went back to the guards and asked, "This kid, did he carry two swords? Did he have a dog with him?"

"I'm not so sure," said the British dude. "These are just rumors."

"What's the name of the city on the other side of the bridge?"

"Sybak," replied the other dude. " Why are you so interested?"

The elf didn't even answer, he turned and ran down the bridge.

_I'm on the right track. _he thought victoriously. _Lloyd Irving, you're mine. Wha-?_

The elf suddenly stopped. Something had caught his eye (that seems to happen a lot).

"This is..." the elf gasped as he picked up the object. It was a black exsphere. "He does plan to bring the Day of Ragnarok upon us..."

"B-but how...?" Lloyd muttered, still horrified. "It was-"

"Mangled!" Margarita cut in. "It was totally torn apart! There's no way in hell it could just be _gone_! Are you saying it just got up and walked away!?"

"Listen," began the scientist dude. "We don't appreciate jokes or gags-"

"It's not a joke!!" Lloyd snapped hysterically.

"Lloyd calm down," Raine instructed. "I can assure you, sir, that this is no prank. Me and my younger brother saw it for ourselves. You are sure there was asolutely _nothing_ left?"

"Yes ma'am, we checked everywhere. Nothing but blue sea."

"Maybe the current carried it off," Colette said.

"Colette, it was literally shish kabobbedto those rocks," said Zelos in a serious tone. "No way it could of been swept away. The only way it could of disappeared was if it's remains dissolved away, or some shit like."

"Zelos is right," Sheena said. "There may still be a chance that it's dead, let's hope so."

"If not, I'll protect you my sweet hunny!" Zelos attempted to wrap his arm around Sheena's waist, but she angerly slapped him away.

"Did any of you find a weirdass black stone laying anywhere around there?" Lloyd asked seriously.

"Um, no," said the scientist dude. "Now, if you'll excuse me." The man left.

"Now, where were we?" said Margarita. "Oh yeah. YOU STUPID BASTARD!!!" Margarita slapped Lloyd again.

"So what now?" asked Genis.

"Well, I need Raine to come with me to help one of my villagers," said Sheena.

"But I need to meet up with Regal to pick up the power thingamajiggy!" Zelos whined.

"The people of my village are more important! And you just wanna check out the women there in Altamira!"

"True. But I'd rather be with you anyway, my voluptuous hunny."

"Why I oughta-!"

"Why can't you you go on your own, pretty boy?" Margarita cut in. "You got a sword. Too scared to go by yourself?"

"Course not!" Zelos laughed. "I just wanna hang out with my friends, whom I haven't seen in _ages_!"

"Zelos, we defeated Mithos about a week ago," Lloyd said dryly.

"... Okay, you got me. But can you blame a guy? Regal and Presea aren't exactly big on friendly conversations."

"But how will we get there?" asked Colette. "The EC crashed and-"

"No way we're flying again!" Lloyd cut in.

"whine" Noishe whined.

"Don't worry! I just so happen to have an extra EC with me!" Zelos said triumphetly.

"I don't wanna ride in that piece of crap again!" Margarita whined.

"It's better than flying," said Sheena. "And the EC isn't crap. It's your fault the other one crashed!"

"Bullshit!!"

"Don't you bullshit me!!"

"That is enough!" Raine yelled.

"Catfight!" Zelos cheered.

While the two girls were fighting, Lloyd turned to Colette and Genis and said, "You guys wanna get some air or something?"

"Uh huh!" Colette nodded.

"Sounds good to me," Genis agreed.

The three slipped away, not being noticed by the others. When they were outside, they sat at an empty bench and began to converse.

"So how have your half elf equality speeches been going?" Colette began.

"Pretty good," said Genis. "We've had a few bumps here and there, but we have gotten some supporters."

"That's great!" Lloyd smiled. "At least you're making progress!"

Yeah, you're right," Genis smiled back. "How about you guys? Have you had any luck on your exsphere journey?"

"Well kinda," Lloyd said. "All this stuff with that weirdo and that monster..."

"Weirdo? What weirdo?"

"There's a strange elf who said he was sent to capture Lloyd," Colette explained.

"And don't listen to a word Margarita says!" Lloyd suddenly snapped.

"Umm okay..." Genis said uncertainly. "He was an elf?"

"Well, we think he's an half elf. He had pointed ears and brown skin."

"Really?" Genis stopped in thought. "That sounds familiar... Like something I read from a book. Maybe we should ask my sister."

"You sure now's a good time?"

"Um, well..."

**Someplace Else**

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Not really. The chances of sucess is thirty-five- no, more like thirty percent."

"_Thirty? _This is too risky. Perhaps we should find another way."

"... You know what? I made a mistake, it's not thirty."

"Then what is it?"

"It's less than thirty. It's twenty-five."

"...This is suicidal."

"Then you should be thrilled. Aren't you all about despair and anguish?"

"Oh, shut up."

"Well, I'm going. We already dumped the exspheres. If we don't get out of here soon, we'll be stranded forever. Besides, don't you want to see your son?"

"..."

"Either way, I'm going first. I'll contact you as soon as I reach the base."

"...I have no objections."

AD:Dun dun dun...

VGA:Will you stop that? You suck at dramatic sound effects

AD:Oh. I'm still getting paid though, right?

VGA:Anyway, you probably know where this is gonna lead to. If not, you'll just have to see

AD:Wait until next time on... THE DAY OF RAGNAROK!!!

VGA:SHUT UP ALREADY!!! (Backhands Announcer Dude)


	12. Chapter 12

VGA: Yo.

AD: Okay then...

VGA: Anyway, I've check my hit list-

AD: Oh, God, who're you gonna kill now!?!?

VGA: What? Not _that _hit list. I meant the one for the story. You know, how many people have clicked on the story page

AD: Oh.

VGA: Anyway, it says that readers have checked out the story over 700 times, but there are only 19 reviews.

AD: You suck.

VGA: Oh shut up. My point is, please review! It's not that hard, just press the button... If you like the story, review! Don't be shy! If you want to offer some criticism fine, just no flames. Anyway, I just wanna say thanks to all the readers who _have_ reviewed.

AD: They reviewed because they pitied you

VGA: Oh shut up. Now go announce the chapter you piece of shit

AD: Fine, here's Chapter Twelve

VGA: Hey, twelve's my favorite number

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, Presea would of gotten to "neuter" Rodyle (or spay. I'm not sure).

Chapter Twelve

"Yah!!" Lloyd yelled at the top of his lungs as he brought down his right blade severing the zombie in half. He smirked to himself but was suddenly shoved to the side by someone wearing neon green.

"Watch it!" Margarita snapped. She then turned her attention back to the boxing iris she was currently in battle with. Her arm must not of hurt anymore. They had found themselves in a nasty situation, a horde of monsters had ambushed them. At the inn, they had decided to go to Altamira, since it was closer. They would navigate through Goaracchia Forest and find the exit toward the sea. Then, they would use the EC near the dock.

"Lloyd! Duck!" Lloyd did as he was instructed. Several balls of fire flew over his and into the face of a pumpkin tree,

burning it to a crisp.

"Thanks Genis!" Lloyd gave the half elf a thumbs up before running off to fight another monster.

"Lloyd, you haven't changed," Genis sighed to himself. Then he began to work up another spell.

"Cyclone Seal!" Sheena shouted. A burst of air sent a small ghost into the air. Then, Colette flew up to it and cried, "Grand Chariot!". The ghost was sent spiraling down to the ground where it was finished offwith a well placed "Grave" spell, courtesy of Zelos.

"Whoo! We kick ass together, don't we girls?" Zelos purred.

"Oh shut up," Sheena snapped. "It was already dead when Colette hit it."

"Oh no! I think Zelos helped too!" Colette insisted.

"See? My angel agrees as well," Zelos said.

"But isn't she Lloyd's angel?" Raine asked.

Lloyd, who was currently battling a coffin monster, heard this with the aid of his angelic and instantly turned around to face the others.

"She's not my angel! Why do you always say that!?" he snapped. The coffin monster then turned around. It's coffin doors opened and a monsterous hand pulled Lloyd inside in a blink of an eye, closing the doors.

"Lloyd!" cried out Colette.

"Get me out of here!" Lloyd pained cries erupted from his confinement.

"I'll take care of this," Margarita sighed. "Looks like the Pathetic and Idiotic One needs my help once more." She then finished off the boxing iris and ran up to the the coffinmaster. She punched the shriveled up old man in the gut, causing the doors on his coffin to open, which Lloyd tumbled out of. Then, she did something really unexpected.

"Devastating Beast!!" Suddenly, a red colored sonic wave about three times bigger than the average "Beast" attack appeared. It hit it's target, and caused gigantic explosion, like dynamite would, and smoke scattered the area. When it cleared up, there was a big crater where the monster had once stood.

"Whoo! That was easy!" Margarita chirped with her hands on her hips, almost innocently (and I use "innocent"_ very _loosly). She was covered with dirt, several scratches, and her clothes were torn in some places.

"That was..." Raine gaped.

"Amazing!" Sheena finished.

"An attack like that has to use up a ton of mana," Genis stated.

"Babe, that was smoking!" Zelos whistled. "For now on, I'm gonna call you the Fiery Fisted Senorita!"

"Listen you, I- Hey, 'Fiery Fisted' doesn't sound half bad," Margarita said proudly.

"Where's Lloyd...?" Colette asked.

"Who? Oh yeah, the idiot!" Margarita jumped into the hole. Seconds later, she and a equally dirty and scathed Lloyd emerged from the hole. She was dragging the swordsman by his foot, and then left him on the floor. She bent over him and said, "Hey idiot! You alive?"

"Yes, I'm alive," Lloyd growled. "Couldn't you of at least given me heads up _before _you blew up the entire clearing!?"

"No."

"You know what!?"

"So Raine, how much longer till we get to the dock?" Sheena asked, ignoring the other two.

"Well, according to the map," Raine explained. "The exit should be a few pathways ahead. As long as there are no distractions, we'll get there in about fifteen minutes." 

"Okay you two, break it up!" Sheena called.

Lloyd sat up and look at the sky, then his eyes widened.

"What're looking at?" Margarita looked up in the sky and said, "Son of a-!"

Everyone looked up to see a fiery comet rocketing out of the sky.

"Look! It's a shooting star!" Colette gaped.

"Make a wish my angel!" Zelos laughed.

"Do you think it will land?"

"Most unlikely," Raine stated. "Most shooting stars burn in the atmosphere before actually hitting the earth."

"Maybe it'll reach this time," Lloyd mused. "Doesn't it look pretty close?"

"Yeah, but it won't," Genis said. "The chances of it landing here is a one to a billion. There's no way it'll-"

The star crashed into the trees several yards ahead of them, causing a moderate earthquake. Birds that had been nesting in the leaves took off, as did several woodland creatures.

"And I stand corrected," Genis finished, astonished.

"Cool! Let's go check it out!" Lloyd said eagerly, and pushed himself to his feet. "Come on Noishe!" Lloyd placed two fingers into his mouth and whistled. Noishe's large ears perked up and he was at Lloyd's side in a instant. The swordsman then saddled up on him and rode off into the bushes.

"Lloyd! Get back here!" Raine shouted. "Sigh, he never listens."

"Lloyd! Wait for us!" Colette ran into the bushes after her friend, followed by Margarita who said, "Hey don't leave me with these people that I hardly know!"

"So much for finding the dock," Genis groaned.

**At the clearing**

"Well damn," was the first thing Lloyd said when he got to where the "star" had landed. The entire clearing was bare and in the middle was a type of aircraft. He got off his dog and looked at it. "Th-this is a rheaird...?" Lloyd recognized it from his previous adventures. But who had been riding it?

Noishe suddenly got excited and began whining, his tail wagging.

"What's wrong boy?" Lloyd asked. "You're not gonna bite me again, are you?"

Noishe huffed and pulled Lloyd's sleeve with his mouth, not hurting him though.

"Is there something you wanna show me?"

The animal then trotted over to a tree and barked at it's branches. Lloyd went over to the spot, looked up at the branches and said, "Son of a bitch! Y-Yuan!?"

A blue haired man was dangling from a tree branch by his long cape, unconscious. Red armor, flowing cape, faggish haircut, yep, definitely Yuan. How did he get here?

"Yuan!" Lloyd called. "Wake up! Hey!!" Yuan winced and groggily opened his eyes. Everything was blurry and he felt like he was floating. He could make out two blobs below him, one red, the other white.

_Did I make I it back? _he thought_. Am I dead? Where am I? _

"Yuan, it's me Lloyd!"

_Oh, goddess, I must be in hell!_

"Yuan, snap out of it!!"

The half elf's eyes widened. "W-what the-!? Lloyd!?"

"Dude, are you allright!?"

"Wait, where am I first of all?"

"You're in Goaracchia Forest, hanging from a tree branch."

"Ah, that's goo- Tree branch!?" He jerked suddenly, and the branch he was suspended from snapped. He hit the ground face first, which was painful.

Lloyd went up to him and said, "Are you okay!? That looked like it hurt!"

"_No_. I feel _wonderful,_" he sneered sarcastically.

"You must not be in that much pain."

"If I could move, I'd strangled you."

"Lloyd!" a voice called.

"Wait right here," Lloyd instructed, then got up and left.

"Oh yeah, did you think I was gonna get up and get myself a martini or something!?!?" Yuan yelled.

"I hate this place. I can't wait to go back home," the strange elf growled. He came across a log and gratefully sat on it. He then pulled out the strange black stone he had found on the bridge earlier. It looked... evil. But he couldn't help but pick it up. He vaguely thought that he had seen something similar to it in a book he had read or something. He wondered where it came from. Maybe that Lloyd guy had dropped it. If he did, that meant...

"I can feel evil mana radiating from it..." He peered into it's glossy surface, and saw a black rotting creature staring back at him. Then, he felt hot breath waft over him from behind. He turned around to see-

"Oh, shit!!"

"Ugh, this is not how I planned to get back here," Yuan groaned, still laying on the floor but had been turned on his back.

"Hold on, I'm almost finished," Raine was currently using her magic to heal him. "There. You still shouldn't move though. In the meantime, why don't you tell us how you got here?"

"Who is this dude anyway?" Margarita asked.

"This is Yuan," Lloyd explained. "He helped us defeat Mithos. I think I told you about him before we got Asgard. Yuan, this is Margarita. She just joined us."

"I thought you looked unfamiliar," Yuan said.

"... Oh yeah! Now I remember!" Margarita snapped her fingers. "Didn't you say he was the fag who nearly destroyed the world cause of his stupid plan with the Summon Spirits?"

"That's the one!"

"Is it true that you have faggish fairy wings? If so, can I poke them?"

Yuan gave both the teens deathglares.

"If you weren't Kratos' son, I'd beat the shit out of you and cut you into small pieces," he growled menacingly. "As for you," he turned to Margarita. "You're lucky I can barely move."

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Margarita teased, unfazed by his threat.

"What about Da- I mean Kratos?" Lloyd asked. "Why didn't he come? You better not have abandoned him there or I'll!-"

"Calm down," Yuan said nonchalantly. "He'll come. Here's the thing, we desposed of all the exspheres, right? I began to look into trying to find a way out that godforsaken hellhole. I happened to of had a rheaird with me and I was able to use it to to fly off Derris Kharlan."

"But what about-"

"Let me finish. I have a device at my base that can transport people back and forth to Derris Kharlan. My plan was to get there and use it to bring Kratos back. We agreed that if I didn't contact him within three days, that meant the plan failed."

"Oh."

"I should get going," Yuan forced himself to stand up.

"Are you sure?" Raine asked. "It hasn't really been long enough for the magic to actually heal you."

"I hurt like hell all over but I think I can still fly the rheaird. The longer I take, the more pissed Kratos will be. You know Lloyd, he really misses you."

Lloyd opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Yuan walked passed him and got on the aircraft.

"Thank you for your assistence," he said.

"Wait!" Lloyd said suddenly. "I-is there someway you can tell us when Kratos will be here?"

Yuan thought for a moment. Then, he dug in his cape and pulled out a small device and tossed it over to Lloyd.

"That's a communicator," he explained. "You can talk to me or your father anytime you want."

"Why would we want to talk to _you_?" Zelos asked. "Oh, I get it! You get lonely don't you?"

"Oh, shut up," Yuan snapped. "It's so that I can tell you when Kratos arrives, you stupid piece of shit"

"You're the one who's a piece of shit Yuan. At least I don't dress like one."

The half elf gave Zelos one last angry look before taking off to the sky.

"Man, that guy's an ass," Zelos said.

"True, but you shouldn't have provoked him," Sheena said.

"So, Lloyd what're you waiting for?"

"What're you talking about?" Lloyd asked, confused.

"Aren't you gonna call your old man?"

"U-um, well," Lloyd wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to talk to Kratos. Not that he hated him or anything, it was just that it would feel strange talking Kratos, whom he just barely found out was his father (Spoiler!). Not only that, what would they talk about? Kratos wasn't very sociable...

"I..."

Suddenly, a deafening roar snapped Lloyd out of his thoughts. He recognized it anywhere.

"The black monster..." he whispered.

AD: Kratos is gonna be in the story?

VGA: Of course he's gonna be in the story you stupid piece of shit. A TOS story without Kratos Aurion is like banana without it's peel. It's naked! It's incomplete! Kratos is like the peel that holds the story together, and keeps it from falling apart!!

(Confetti shoots everywhere)

AD: ...What the hell's wrong with you? Didn't you just write a story that makes fun _of_ Kratos?

VGA: Oh shut up.


	13. Chapter 13

VGA: Sup? Did you miss me?

AD: Hell no! 

VGA: I wasn't talking to you, you crappy ass excuse for a muse. Now do your thing.

AD: Here's Chapter Thirteen

VGA: That's an unlucky number!

AD: Hey, I'm just doing my job!

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, Lloyd would of earned the title "Dumbass" at some point.

Chapter Thirteen

"Damn it, why won't it die...?" the strange elf jumped back to avoid a deadly blow from the beast he was battling. It was black and it's skin was rotting away. It had blood red eyes and long, deadly looking thornes protruding from it's arms. The elf had took only two hits from those thrones and he already felt close to death. There was a large gash at the side of his head and his vest was drenched with blood from the wound at his gut.

_I'm gonna die here,_ he realized. _I'm gonna die, and so will everyone else. I'm sorry, Eir, everyone..._

The creature raised it's claw, preparing to finish him off. Then suddenly...

"Prism Stars!" The monster was bombarded with several balls of light. It tried to swat them away, but other than that, the attack had no effect.

_What was...?_

"Are you allright?" the elf's cold blue eyes met Lloyd's calm brown ones. "Whoa, you look like you took a beating."

"W-why are you helping me?" he asked.

"Because, that's what any sane, good person would do."

"Lloyd!" Genis cried. "Our attack did nothing!"

"Damn. Here, take this," Lloyd handed the elf a gel before heading back to his friends.

_I don't... understand..._

"So what's the plan?" Sheena asked, her cards drawn out and her eyes focused on the creature in front of her.

"Sheena, perhaps the summon spirits could assist us?" Raine suggested.

"Oh yeah! Why didn't I think of that? Who should I summon?"

"Origin, probably. He is the king of summon spirits, correct?"

Sheena nodded and prepared to summon Origin.

"Come on guys! Let's distract him!" Lloyd called out. The others followed.

"Sword Rain Alpha!" Lloyd mercilessly stabbed at the creatue's gut, purple blood splattering on his face. Zelos ran right up to the creature and called out "Hell Pyre!" He spun upward and sent a moderate sized fireball right into the creature's face. The monster just shook it's head and made a move to swipe both the swordsman. However, a red, squeaky pow hammer smacked it in the face, catching it off guard.

"I summon thee. Come, Origin!!" The king of Summon Spirits appeared. Mana-filled lightening assailed the creature over and over. It let out a pained roar, which was like music to everyone's ears. When the attack had ended, the monster had several gaping wound's covering it's body, each oozing violet blood.

"Yes! It worked!" Lloyd cheered and turned to face his comrades, who were deathly pale. "...What's the matter?"

"L-Lloyd... Look..." Margarita pointed behind the swordsman. He turned around and saw that the monster's injuries were glowing a bright purple. When the light faded, the injuries were gone.

"We are so screwed," Zelos whispered.

"O-Origin! Try again!" Sheena commanded.

"I... cannot," the king of Summon Spirits said sorrowfully. "This beast is... invincible." Then, he disappeared.

"W-what!? Wait!"

"Move out of my way," a voice said.

Everyone turned to see the strange elf, who was still battered up. He spat some blood on the floor before walking up to the black monster, which growled at him. He then pulled out his staff, placed it in front of him, and said, "Hoenir, silence thy foolish enemy..." The monster roared and raised it's massive hand. Everyone gasped. Just as the hand nearly smashed down-

"Muteness!!" The creature suddenly froze completely, it's claw only inches from the elf's head. It just stood there, unable to move. The elf lowered his weapon and said, "It'll only stay frozen for a while."

"Dude..." Lloyd whispered. "That was awesome! How did you do that?"

"..."

"...You okay?"

Without warning, the elf collapsed face first onto the ground. Everyone rushed to him.

"Hey, wake up!" Lloyd yelled.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Colette fretted.

"These wounds look pretty serious," Raine murmered, flipping the elf onto his back. "But it looks like he passed out from mana exhaustion."

"Good, let's leave him here," Margarita said coldly.

"Are you serious!?" Lloyd said, shocked at his friend's unusual cold response. "He just helped us! And back in Meltokio, I saw him help a little girl!"

"Ew, he really is a child molestor," Zelos said, disgusted. " Picking up little girls, that's sick."

"Oh shut up Zelos!" Genis spat. "You have some nerve! You hit on Presea several times, Colette too!"

"He's not a child molestor and he's not gay!" Lloyd interrupted. "Damn it Margarita!"

Margarita snickered.

"Listen," Lloyd continued. "He's a nice guy, I can tell! It's the same as Sheena. We can't just leave him here!" 

"I agree with Lloyd," said Colette. "I'm sure we can become good friends if we just talked to him. Also, it would be mean to leave him here with that..._thing_."

"Please heal him Professor."

"Oh, allright then," Raine sighed. "You two are way too trustful." She then drew her staff and began to heal their enemie's wounds. He was still unconscious after she was finished.

"So... what now?" asked Margarita. "Do we just sit here and wait for him to wake up?"

"What if the monster starts moving again?" Colette asked.

"He did say it'll stay like that for just awhile. We should get going then."

"Wait, you mean he's coming with us?" asked Genis. "But he's after Lloyd!"

"We can interrogate him, like with Regal," said Raine. "It's not up to me though. Lloyd, he's your enemy. What do you want to do with him?"

"I say we bring him with us," Lloyd said. 

"It's settled then. Now, who will carry him?"

"I can do it Professor," Colette said politely. "I carried Regal."

"Make Zelos do it," Sheena intervened. "He hardly does anything."

"Nuh uh. No way," Zelos said. "I ain't carrying no homo. Make the dog do it." The redhead pointed to Noishe, who whined pitifully.

"I'll carry him," Margarita sighed, then walked to the unconscious elven dude.

"Are you sure?" Lloyd asked. "He doesn't look light weight."

"If Colette can do it, I sure as hell can!" 

"But Colette's an angel. She can lift heavy stuff!"

"And so can I. Just watch!" Margarita then lifted their enemy up with ease, and slung him over his shoulder like he was nothing. Everyone was shocked.

"See? What'd I tell you?" she smirked. "Now let's get to that dock thingy!" She then merrily skipped (Yes, _skipped_)

away.

"Is she an angel too?" Colette asked, mouth agape.

"I don't... think so," Lloyd answered warily.

"She isn't," said Raine. "Her mana signature is the same as a human's."

"Then how...?" 

"She obviously is just really strong."

"Damn, she must work out a lot," Zelos whistled. "Hate to be the one who pisses her off." (cough Lloyd cough)

"Hey, you losers just gonna stand there or what?" Margarita called from a few yards away. Everyone snapped out of their astonishment and followed after her.

AD: So what, is the elf dude gonna join them or something?

VGA: Who the fuck told you!?!? Uh, I mean uh...

AD: ...

VGA: ... Uhhhhhh...

AD: ...

VGA: ... Review?


	14. Chapter 14

VGA: So yeah. Sorry for the long update! You see, my computer started acting funny, thus erasing all the chapters I had for this story as well as others.

AD: That's no excuse!

VGA: WHO ASKED YOU!?!?!?

AD: Here's Chapter Fourteen

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, a meteor would of killed everyone at the end of the game.

Chapter Fourteen

Their enemy woke up to find himself surrounded by _his _enemies.

"Where am I?" he asked, standing up.

"Inside something called an EC," Lloyd answered. "And I just wanna say this; we got you outnumbered and we took your weapon too-"

"Yeah, so try anything fishy and we'll kick your ass!" Margarita snapped.

"I'm guessing you're gonna interrogate me now, right?" the elf stated cooly.

"Damn right. Who sent you!?" Margarita slapped him.

"Margarita!" Lloyd exclaimed, shocked.

"What the hell!?" the elf yelled, his stinging cheek turning a slight red.

"Hey, I'm just trying to get some answers," the red head replied nonchalantly. "Where was I? Oh yeah, who sent you!?"

"Drop dead, you whore!!"

"What the hell did you say!?"

"You heard me!"

"Lloyd, give me one of your swords."

"Let me handle this," Raine sighed. "Interrogations are not your forte." Margarita huffed and turned away. Raine then faced the elf and said,"Listen, from here on, you are our prisoner. We will now ask you some questions, and it would make it a lot easier on yourself if you answered them truthfully."

The elf said nothing but instead folded his arms and narrowed those cold blue eyes of his.

"For my first question-" 

"Are you a child molestor?" Margarita interrupted.

Silence.

"...No," the elf said after a long pause.

"Oh. Well, are you gay?"

"... What is 'gay'?"

"Oh my goddess, are you serious!? What planet did _you_ come from!?"

"..."

"Man, I can't believe-" Margarita was cut off by one of Raine's fearsome smacks over the head.

"Enough of these foolish questions," the half elven women said. "We need to ask him questions that are relevent to our situation."

Margarita glared at her and then turned away defiantly, her pride severly beaten. Lloyd couldn't help but smirk slightly. Unfortunately for him, Margarita saw this and stomped on his foot, hard. She then gave a satisfied grin when he yelped out in pain.

"Now then, tell us why you are after Lloyd."

"I refuse to answer," the elf said curtly.

"We're not giving you an option."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize I needed permission to have a mind of my own," he replied rudely with sarcasm, which clearly pissed off Raine.

"Answer the question or else-"

"Or else what?"

"..."

"Tch, it doesn't even matter. Do whatever you want with me. My life is meaningless anyway."

Upon hearing this, Lloyd immediately snapped and said, "What are you talking about!? Of course your life has meaning! From the day you were born, you were given the right to live! Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise! Do you hear me!?"

Silence.

"I said, 'Do you hear me'!? Answer me damn it!!" Lloyd then grabbed the poor elf by the neck and began to mercilessly shake him till he said, "I heard you! I heard you!!"

"Good," Lloyd released him and took a deep breath. Then, with a large smile, said happily, "Now, what were we talking about?"

The elf stood there looking scared, if not, disturbed.

"... Something wrong?"

"..." the elf said nothing and just stood there with a bewildered look plastered on his face.

"Way to go Lloyd," began Zelos. "Now you've traumatized him with your corny speech!"

"It's not corny!" Lloyd shot back defensively. (Yeah it was)

"... No one's ever said anything like that to me," the elf said quietly, which attracted everyone's attention.

"Look," Lloyd began. "You seem like a nice guy."

"I'm trying to capture you," the elf reminded him.

"Yeah well, I've met people like you who are morally screwed."

"Excuse me?" 

"I get the feeling you're not gonna tell us anyhing right now, but could you at least tell us your name? You're gonna be hanging with us for a while, and I don't want to call you 'Weird Elf Dude' the whole time."

"Or 'Kidnapper'," Zelos added.

"Or 'Child Molestor'," said Margarita, nodding.

"He's not a child molestor!!" Lloyd snapped.

Margarita snickered.

"..." the elf turned his eyes to the ground.

"I guess you don't want to tell us," Lloyd sighed and began to turn away when the elf suddenly said, "Sen Sinfolti."

"Pardon?"

"... That's my name."

"Sen Sin... fol... ti...?"

Sen nodded.

"Whoa... That's one kickass name!"

"..." Sen turned his eyes away again.

"It's nice to meet you Sen!" Colette greeted him.

"... Can I have my staff back?"

"No way!" Genis yelled. "Don't think that we trust you!"

"Yeah, and by the way," Sheena said. "That magic you did back with that monster was the same you did to my villager! I want to know how you fix it, now!"

"... The spell wears off with time," Sen said. "It just depends on the victim. He should be fine now."

"O-oh. Well, you better be telling the truth!"

"Are you _sure_ you don't know what gay means?" Margarita raised an eyebrow to the elf.

"... Yes."

"Oh."

"Are you a half elf of some kind?" Raine said suddenly. "I've never seen a person of your race."

"..." Sen turned away... again.

"Hey, you don't have to ashamed," Lloyd said. "Don't think we'll discriminate against you or anything, cause we won't!" 

"... You won't?"

"Of course not! I hate discrimination!"

"... I am neither human nor elf, let's leave it at that."

"So you're a dwarf?" Margarita asked. Everyone gave her an odd look. "What? I've never seen a dwarf before!"

"What planet do _you_ come from?" Lloyd laughed. Margarita stomped on his foot again.

Moments later, the group began to bombard Sen with questions like:

"If you're not an elf, why're your ears so pointy?"

"Are you _sure_ you don't know what gay means?" 

"That's a cool earring, can I try it on!?"

"Why's your vest so shiny? Is it silk?"

"Would it be allright if I had a sample of your blood? Just for a test!"

"Where do dwarves live?"

"Where do babies come from?"

SMACK

"Do you think you could show me what kind of magic that was that you used?"

"Hey, why _did _that monster attack you?" Sheena suddenly asked.

"... I was looking at a stone, when it attacked me from behind," Sen answered.

"A stone? What stone?"

Sen dug into one of his vest's pockets and pulled out the familiar black exsphere we all know and love (Well, maybe not love).

"That's-!" 

"EVIL SPIRITS!!!" Margarita screamed, earning WTF looks from everyone.

"...You didn't hear that," she then blushed.

Cue Noishe's vicious snarling. Everyone backed away fearfully, except Sen, who stared hard at the creature without any emotion.

"Put it away!" Lloyd said fearfully. Sen gave Lloyd a very strange look before turning back to Noishe saying, "Halt" in a monotone voice. Noishe suddenly ceased his growling and stared at Sen balefully, who then nonchalantly tossed the exsphere to Lloyd.

"W-what did you do?" Lloyd whispered.

"You should learn to better control your pro- I mean 'dog'," Sen said. "You should keep that stone somewhere safe. It looks... valuable."

Lloyd simply nodded and slipped the exsphere into his pocket. Then, Noishe started whining and hid behind Lloyd's leg, looking at Sen fearfully. The blue head gave the dog a hard look and turned away.

..._What the hell did he do?_ Lloyd thought.

**Sen has joined the party! (Against his own will)**

VGA: So yeah, you now know the name of the strange elf dude. I can't really remember, but I once read a Norse myth about a hero named Sinfolti who gave their life for their family. I can't remember if it was a guy or a girl. Sinfolti kinda sounded gay though, so I made it Sen's last name. And I got the name Sen from a character in Sprited Away.

AD:...Plagirist...

VGA: (Shoots down Announcer Dude)


	15. Chapter 15

VGA: Sorry for the long update, I've had some... issues lately.

AD: Issues..._riiiiight..._

VGA: Oh shut up and announce the chapters you piece of shit!

AD: You're so cruel... Here's Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, there'd be a scene where Kratos and Lloyd hugged. That's right, _hugged_. And yes, I love the father son fluff. Got a problem with that?

Chapter Fifteen

"Well, that's the last one," a Renegade soldier grunted while clapping the dust off his hands.

"Wow, it's hard to believe the Renegades are over," said another who was leaning against a box.

"What do we do now?"

"Go back to our normal lives, I guess. Lord Yuan said to pack up all our things and blow this place to the ground."

"Where _did_ Lord Yuan go to anyway?"

"Who knows? That guy was a real ass anyway."

"I know. Hey, Eric told me that he actually dry cleans all his capes!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Yuh huh!"

So absorbed into their conversation, they were unaware of the door sliding open, and the shadowed figured that stormed up behind them.

"Did you know that he also uses strawberry kiwi shampoo?" the soldier continued.

"For real!?"

"It's the truth!"

"Man, I always had a feeling he was faggish but-"

"But what?" a dark voice sneered cynically from behind. The soldiers turned around to see-

"L-L-L-Lord Yuan...!!" one shrieked in pure horror. The other was too terrified to say anything and instead used his buddy as a human shield.

"..." Yuan looked absolutely _pissed _and glared at both of them with such great intensity you'd think his eyes could bore holes into the soldiers' bodies. His blue hair was matted and clung to his dirtied, sweat covered face, and there were several rips and tears in his clothes.

"So what were you about to say?" he snapped. "About me being faggish?"

"D-don't hurt us!!" one soldier begged.

"You know what? I don't even give a shit. I want all the soldiers assembled."

Silence.

"NOW!!" That did it. Both of the soldiers scrambled out the door in fear. Minutes later, all the soldiers were assembled in a perfectly straight line in front of the grouchy half elf. He looked at them all for a while, then said, "Renegades, I'm sure this is very unexpected and that you were planning to be able to go back to your regular lives. Well, I have one last task for you all, then the Renegades will be done for. Any questions? No? Good. Now, I want this place up and operational in less than thirty minutes. "

"You," Yuan pointed to one soldier. "I want you to throw the circuit breaker switch down in the basement." The soldier saluted and left.

"And you," Yuan pointed to another soldier. "I want you to restart all security systems. Everyone else, get back to your regular positions, except you," Yuan turned to another soldier and said, "I want you to get me a margarita."

"Sorry sir," said the Renegade. "We ran out of alcohol 'cause of the party we had."

"THEN IMPROVISE!!" Yuan backhanded the soldier, and with a dramatic swish of his cape, left.

**Altamira**

"Whoa! Altamira's cooler than I thought!" Margarita exclaimed. "I can't believe you're actually friends the with guy who owns this place! Just how many people do you know? Hey, is that a Katz!?"

Margarita continued to rave on and on like a little girl who was at some grand festival. Sen, however, was silent. But it was obvious, though, that he was amazed as well.

The group then got on the boat-like transport thingy (I don't know what the hell it's called). Margarita became fascinated with that as well.

"Are we actually riding in _that_!?" she gasped and went inside. "This is awesome!!"

"So Margarita," Lloyd began. "Were you raised somewhere in Sylvarant?"

Margarita tensed suddenly. "Y-yeah, why?"

"Well, you're acting all excited about this stuff so it would have to mean that you came from a place without all this technology."

"Amazing Lloyd!" Raine suddenly exclaimed.

"... Huh? "

"You were able to deduce that the places in Tethe'alla are far more advanced than places in Sylvarant!"

"Any person with a brain can figure that out," Genis scoffed. Raine backhanded him.

"... What is that?" Sen suddenly spoke up, pointing to the bright lights of the Altamira themepark.

"Oh...Martel..." Margarita gaped. "I-is that an amusement park!?"

"Yeah," Lloyd said.

"My papa used to tell me about it all the time but I've never actually been to one!!" Margarita then shoved the driver to the ground to get a better view of the dazzling lights.

"What the hell was that for!?" he yelled.

"Can we go here after we talk to this Regal dude? Pleeeeeease!?"

"Sure," Colette said. "He's really nice, I'm sure he'll get us in for free!"

"Sweet!"

"Hello!? Driver here!!" the driver dude yelled.

"Huh? Oh."

Margarita smiled sheepishly and took a step back. The driver gave her a dirty look before going back to his post. Within minutes, they were inside the Lezareno building and Zelos walked up to the main desk.

"May I help you?" the clerk asked.

"Yeah, I have a meeting with Regal Bryant," Zelos said.

"Ah yes, Zelos. Just take the elevator."

"Elevator?" both Sen and Margarita questioned. Soon all nine of them (including Noishe) managed to squeeze into the elevator. (Don't ask how)

"Whoa! This place is great!" Margarita raved.

"Can you please shut up?" Sen groaned. "I'm getting a headache."

"Why don't you _make _me?" Margarita snapped.

"Do you really want to start something?"

"Oh please. I kicked your ass once, I'll kick it again."

"I was caught off guard that time!"

"Bullshit!"

"You're bullshit!"

"Could you guys seriously stop?" Sheena asked, annoyed. "There are other people here you know-"

"You have your nerve!" Sen continued. "If it weren't for me, that monster would have torn you to pieces."

"And if _we_ hadn't of come, _you_ would have been torn to pieces." Margarita shot back.

"It's not like I asked for your help!"

"It's not like we asked for _your_ help!"

The door opened and everyone walked out. Margarita and Sen continued to fight.

"That earring makes you look gay," Margarita said.

"Those shorts make you look like a whore," was Sen's comeback. (He still doesn't know what gay means, he just thinks it's an insult)

"Hey, I don't see anybody," Lloyd said, looking around the empty room.

"Did he go somewhere?" Colette asked.

"Why would he ask me to come if he's gonna leave?" Zelos asked.

Just then, the elevator opened again and in came Regal and Presea.

"It's them!" Colette chirped happily. "Hello Regal, Presea!"

"Ah, hello Colette, everybody," Regal smiled warmly.

"Presea!! Hi!!"Genis said nervously, turning bright red.

"Hello Genis," the pink haired girl smiled.

"I don't mean sound rude" Regal began. "But why are you all here? I thought I had only asked Zelos to come."

"Yeah well, Lloydie and his chicks kinda ran into me and then we met up with the brat and the lovely Professor, " Zelos rambled. "We all somehow got together and I thought, what the hey? We could all have a reunion!"

"Hm, a reunion..." That's when the man's eyes fell on the two newcomers in the group. Presea noticed the two as well.

"You have new companions?" she asked, cocking her head to the side (I think she's so cute when she does that).

"Yep! I'm Margarita Juliana del Rosa Alejandra Hernandez the Third!" Margarita pointed to herself proudly.

"...Sen..." the emotionally-screwed-elf-like-dude droned.

"Margarita's been travelling with us," Lloyd said. "Sen's being held against his will."

"Against...his will?" Presea asked slowly.

"It's a long story-"

"How's it a long story?" Margarita interrupted. "He tried to kidnap you! End of story!"

"Kidnap?" Regal raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, could we go to that amusement park!?"

"I'm sorry, but it's been temporarily closed."

"Huh!?"

"But why?" Lloyd asked.

"Well you see," Regal began. "A lot of the rides run on the power of exspheres, and since Lloyd and Colette wished for the destruction of exspheres, I had no choice but to close it. But as I said, it is only temporary. I believe I might of found a way to replace the power of exspheres."

"Oh yeah," Lloyd realized. "Zelos said something like that. What is it?"

"Well, it requires Sheena's summoning skills."

"Me?" Sheena pointed herself. "How?"

"Yes. It's actually quite simple, really. My idea is that you summon Volt, and command him to provide electrical energy for Symphonia. Since the Great Tree has been resurrected, Volt will have plenty of mana to draw from."

"Hey, you're right! Why didn't I think of that!"

"There's no need to do it immediately, though. You all look as though you were in battle."

"Funny you mention that..." Lloyd scratched his head. "Think we can stay at the hotel here?"

"Of course. Presea, would you be their escort?"

"Yes," the girl replied. "Follow me please."

Raine turned to the president and said," Regal, I would like to inform you of a... batttle we recently endured."

--

"Damn them all, throwing a party after I left..." The feared half elf rampaged through the halls, barking anyone who gave him a "funny look". When he got to his office, he threw himself onto his chair. He lifted open the laptop on his desk and began to type down a few things.

"Almost... connected. Done," he pressed one key and waited for the computer to load.

--

On this planet, everything is dead. No plant life grows here, no wind can blow, no ocean nor any other aquatic substance was existent, no light from the sun can reach the surface. The only light was emitted from the stars, which twinkled sadly as if ashamed to have to shine on such a fake creation made by an immature child. This place, called Derris Kharlan, was meant to be beautiful, perfect. But anyone with pure eyes could see thruogh it's false appearance. If hell really existed, this would be it.

There was no sign of life on this planet, or it seemed that way. One mortal, one foolish man had decided to stay on this godforsaken place. To "atone" for all he had done.

"..." Kratos closed one of the dusty books he had been reading and placed it on one of the many piles of books. He had already read every single one in the room in a span of one hour, _twice_. Believe it or not, the man was, as Lloyd would say, bored.

_Lloyd must of gotten it from me,_ he thought to himself. _Lloyd... _

_"Goodbye... Dad..."_

Dad... Hearing Lloyd call him that filled him with both joy and sorrow. Kratos felt under his shirt and pulled out a golden locket. He opened the clasp which revealed a picture of him, Anna, and a newborn baby Lloyd in between them both. Kratos let a rare smile creep onto his lips, just like when he smiled in the photo.

_"Come on, will you hurry up?"_

_"Anna, I'm not used to these kind of things..."_

_"But honey, you know we're on the run from Kvar. Who knows when we'll be ever be able to get this oppurtunity again?"_

_"But-"_

_"Please? I've always wanted a family photo of the three of us..."_

_"...Very well."_

_"Yay! Oh and before we take the picture, fix your hair a little will you? It's looks a rat's nest."_

_"..."_

Kratos ran his hand through his auburn hair, remembering the fond memory. He had thought it annoying at first, but now, he cherished those moments. What he'd do to relive them once more...

_"Listen Kratos, I think I've finally found a way to leave this place." Yuan said, turning to his four thousand year old companion._

_"...Leave?" he asked._

_"Yes, leave."_

_"I thought you said wanted to dispose of all the exspheres."_

_"I do. But think about it, once we _have_ destroyed them all, what then? We just sit here and rot? We only have a few weeks before Derris Kharlan is out of reach with Symphonia's orbit. Once that happens, we'll never be able to leave. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend all of eternity here."_

_"How exactly would we leave?"_

_"I have a rheaird with me. I'm going to use Welgaia's energy and mana to propel it through space and land onto Symphonia. I'll then go over to the Renegade Base and once I'm there, I'll use the base's tranport system to bring you over there."_

_"Doesn't that seem dangerous? What if you burn up in the atmosphere, or hit a meteor?_

_"Oh well. I rather be dead then spend forever here, wouldn't you? Besides, you keep looking at that locket of yours. I know you miss him."_

_"..."_

_"Well __**I'm**__ leaving. I'll go first. When I get there, I plan to desrtoy the base afterwards, so you'd better make up your mind by then." The half elf then placed a laptop computer on a table and said, "I'll contact you with this when I get back. If you don't hear from me within three days, then that probably means I died or something." And with that statement, he left._

Should he go, or should he stay? Kratos had been debating this subject ever since Yuan left. He looked at the device on the table. What if Yuan never contacted him? What if he died somehow? He would be stuck here forever, for all eternity... No way to leave... What would he do then? He had his sword... He could easily finish himself off... But what would Lloyd think of that? No doubt he'd begin his speech about the importance of one's life. It had only been about a day since Yuan left, there was still time.

A part of Kratos said if he went back to Symphonia, he could live with with his son. A family member was lost, but they could still work it out. Lloyd was a forgiving kind of person, he'd accept him and would understand, right? However, another part of him said that he would only make the boy's life worse. The last thing his son would want was to be associated with the man who murdered his mother. He'd be disgusted, knowing that he was related to him, knowing that his cursed blood coursed through his veins...

Kratos shook his head in protest. Lloyd wasn't like that, he'd never think such a thing. Was he not the one who believed that whoever your parents are, it didn't change who you were? So idealistic, childish even, yet powerful and influential.

And now he was back to the debate, should he stay, or should he go? The seraph sighed and reached for another book.

"Kratos?"

Kratos was jerked from his thoughts and instantly placed his hand on the hilt of his, searching for the voice.

"Old habits never die, huh?" Kratos turned to the direction of the small computer on the table. On the screen was Yuan, who had a sly smirk on his face.

"Yuan," Kratos relaxed his grip. "...So you made it."

"You see me here, right?"

It was Kratos' turn to smirk.

"I also see your trip didn't go well," he said, noticing Yuan's tattered appearance.

"Yeah well, I mustv'e have put in the wrong coordinates; I ended up crashing into Goaracchia Forest," He paused, then with another smirk, said. "Guess who I saw there?"

"... Who?"

"I saw Lloyd, along with his companions."

"In Goaracchia?" Kratos asked. "Why would he be there?"

"Hell I should know."

"..." Kratos had remembered once overhearing the boy say something about searching the world for exspheres. He had guessed he would bring a companion or two with him, but not whole entourage. "Any idea where he would of gone?"

Yuan shook his head. "No, but there was a girl with them. I don't ever remember meeting her, not that I would want to. She was one snotty little bitch..."

"... How was he?" Kratos asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Lloyd, how was he?"

"Ah, so you're worried about the brat, eh?" Yuan snickered. "He looked fine. Still as cocky as ever, that's for damn sure."

"...That's good." So he was allright still...

"So have you made up your mind?"

"... I-"

_**You'll make his life worse**_

Kratos froze. Where had that thought come from?

_To be with your son, is that not what you desire?_

These voices...

_**Why would he want to be associated with you? A murderer, a sinner... You're nothing. **_

_You miss him, and he misses you. The least you could do to make it up to him is be his father._

_**You're dead to him.**_

_He misses you, you __**know**__ he misses you._

_**Murderer... Sinner... Traitor...**_

_To be his father, to make up for all that lost time with him..._

_**You're already dead in the inside. What makes you think you could ever be a father again?**_

_Think of Lloyd. You'd both be happy... Anna would be happy..._

_**Murderer...**_

_Your son..._

The seraph gritted his teeth. These two conflicting thoughts within him... Both wished to help Lloyd. One wanted to help him by going back to Symphonia whereas the other thought it would be in the boy's best interest to not be involved in his life any longer... He should stay... No, he should go...

"Kratos, is something wrong?" Yuan asked, noticing the inner turmoil his friend was obviously facing.

"Yuan..." Kratos muttered. "Tell me, what do you think?"

"What do _I_ think?" The half elf paused. "About what?"

"About going back."

"...Well it isn't my decision. What do _you_ want, Kratos?"

"I want what's best for Lloyd."

"And what would that be?"

"I'm not sure."

"... Well, I think-" Suddenly, the screen turned to static.

"Yuan?" Kratos asked.

"...tos...an...ou...he...e..." the half elf's voice began cutting off.

"Damn it, Kratos can you hear me!?" Yuan shouted to his laptop, rapidly pressing it's keys. "Kratos! Shit!"

The screen went blank.

"Yuan?" Kratos attempted to reconnect himself with the half elf but it was too late.

"... The connection must be too weak," he muttered. But wait, that would mean Derris Kharlan was drifting farther away than he anticipated. Who knows how much longer he had, before the planet was completely out of reach...

_...Lloyd..._

_...__**Sinner...**_

_--_

AD: Gaspeth, the angst...

VGA: You think it's angsty now, wait until a few more chapters... Then, you shall see... TRUE ANGST!!

AD:_ Right_...

VGA: Reviews would really kick ass

AD: Kick ass...? What? I don't get your bad girl language...


	16. Chapter 16

VGA: I... fucking... hate my computer...

AD: What happened now?

VGA: It erased all my documents!!

AD: Again?

VGA: AGAIN!! I've had to rewrite this chapter like four times!!

AD: It's okay-

VGA: IT'S NOT OKAY!! This'll probably happen every two or three months!! DAMN IT ALL! !! (Sulks in a corner)

AD:...Here's Chapter Sixteen.

Disclaimer: I don't Tales of Symphonia. If I did, there'd be a scene where Colette and Sheena had a bitch fight over Lloyd.

Chapter Sixteen

Lloyd stood out on the balcony, looking at the sky. There were no stars out though, no clouds either. Just black vastness, so why was he out here? The air was icy and still and everything was quiet, like time had stopped.

"Cold..." Lloyd shuddered, wrapping his arms about himself. His breath was visible in the air, a great contrast of white against black. The sound of footsteps suddenly caught Lloyd's attention. He turned around.

"Hello?" he asked. "Is... someone there?"

"Lloyd."

Lloyd flinched. That voice was familiar.

"Who..." 

A faint silhouette began to emerge from the darkness. The sound of metal sliding sent a small shiver down the teen's spine. A sword being drawn, that's what his angel senses told him. Whoever this person was, it was an enemy.

"Who are you!?" Lloyd yelled, drawing one his own swords. "Answer me!"

"You know who I am," the voice spoke. "I'm part of you, after all."

Without warning, the figure dashed at Lloyd, the weapon pointed straight at him. Lloyd managed to twist to the side, avoiding the blade's tip and positioning himself behind the person. He counterattacked and before he could stop himself, plunged his blade deep into the side of his attacker's shoulder. He smirked triumphetly, but in a split second the smile instantly diminished when he realized who it was he had stabbed.

"K-Kratos?" he gasped.

Although he had his back turned to him, Lloyd recognized that purple garb anywhere. This was definitely Kratos, his father... and he had just seriously wounded him. The sword was still intact, blood oozing from the wound.

"Dad!! I-! A-are you allright!?" He asked frantically. "I'm so sorry!! I thought you were-"

Lloyd stopped when the seraph turned around. His eyes burned into his son's, full of pure hatred and raw disdain. He reached over and pulled the weapon out with ease, red liquid flowing freely, the bone making a sick, cracking noise as the blade was removed. He then threw it over the balcony's edge and turned to Lloyd, who shrinked away, frightened by his father's deadly gaze and eery actions.

"D-Dad?"

"You knew, didn't you?" said the Seraph darkly. "That I'm part of you? Answer me, Lloyd."

"Huh? What are you...talking about?"

"Answer the question, Lloyd."

"I- well... You seemed familiar, but I never thought..." Lloyd trailed off as his father's stare became more threatening, if that was even possible. "No... I didn't know... I'm sorry..."

What kind of child doesn't remember it's parent?

"So you admit it," a devilish smirk accompanied the man's scornful eyes. "How...amusing."

"W-what're you doing?" Lloyd's eyes widened as his father poised his sword for attack.

"There's only one way to solve this."

Solve? Solve what?

"D-Dad! Don't-!"

Was he really that hated?

"Only one way, my son."

The blade slashed swiftly across his throat.

--

"AUUUGGHHH!!" Lloyd fell off the bed, landing painfully on his shoulder. He twisted frantically in his blankets, still screaming.

"Lloyd! What's wrong!?" Genis cried from his own bed.

"Calm down Bud!" Zelos bent down to pull the writhing teen up. Wrong move.

Lloyd acted on reflex and punched the pervert in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"That was a... cheap shot..." Zelos groaned painfully.

"Nice one Lloyd." said Genis.

"You little shit!!" Zelos sat up, looking pissed.

Lloyd, meanwhile was looking about the room frantically, searching for the object of his nightmare. His felt his throat, no blood.

"Just a dream," he sighed while running a hand through his hair.

"Oww," Zelos whined. "My beautiful face..."

"Sorry Zelos, I was... still dreaming I think."

"A dream about attacking me!? You have a twisted mind, you know that!?"

"No! It's just-"

"Hey, where'd that guy go?" Genis said suddenly.

"Who?"

"You know, Sen."

Everyone looked around at the mention of the strange young man, which made them realize that he had vanished.

"Hey, where'd he go?" asked Lloyd, still looking.

"...I think I have an idea," Zelos pointed to an open window. It's doors were wide open, the drapes still blowing in the wind toward the the brightening sky.

"...So he took the elevator?" Lloyd said.

"No, he broke through the roof and flew," Genis snapped harshly. "Idiot, he left through the window!"

"You don't have to be so mean..."

"The guy's after Lloyd, right? " asked Zelos as he closed the window. "Should we wake the ladies up?"

"What for? He could be anywhere, there's no point in searching for him," Lloyd said, about to get back in his bed. "He probably ran off somewhere. We'll just tell everyone in the morning."

"Yeah, you're probably- huh? Where's she going?"

Genis and Lloyd both joined Zelos at the window, curious.

"Isn't that Margarita?" Genis asked.

"Yeah, it is..." Lloyd muttered.

Margarita, in her neon green garb, had appeared outside the hotel doors. She at first looked around her surroundings, as though she were making sure she wasn't being following, then broke out into a sudden run. She ran out the Altamira interest, to fields.

"Okay then..." Genis muttered. "Where in the world is she going?"

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out," said Lloyd, heading toward the door.

"But wait, what if that Sen guy's out there somewhere?"

"Like I said, he's probably ran off." And without giving the others a chance to protest, the swordsman left.

"I swear, he is so immature..."

Minutes later, Lloyd left the hotel and followed the path the red headed girl had taken and left Altamira. He was unaware of the person which had been hiding in the shadows of the archway. Sen poked his head out.

_While he's alone,_ he thought. _I have to get him now!_

--

Lloyd froze and looked about his surroundings. There was no sign of Margarita at all. Where could she had possibly gone? With that outfit and Lloyd's angelic vision, she should really stick out...

He had just barely took a step forward when he was forced to jump to the side to avoid an attack he had sensed from behind. It felt familiar.

"Sen," Lloyd said simply, narrowing his eyes at the young man. "I thought the professor hid that thing."

Sen tightened the grip on his staff.

"Yeah, you _thought_," he replied. "A true warrior keeps a back up weapon."

"True."

"Lloyd Irving, I, Sen Sinfolti shall defeat and capture you."

"Well, Sen Sinfolti, I, Lloyd Irving _Aurion,_ say you're full of shit," Lloyd smirked. "You lost back in Luin to Margarita, Noishe shoved you into a lake in Meltokio, and that monster nearly killed you in the forest. You're not really as strong as you come off to be."

"Those were all distractions," Sen snapped. "You have yet to see my true strength. That creature is trapped in the forest, the pro- _dog _isn't here. And I've already taken care of that girl."

"W-wait, what do you mean 'taken care of'?"

If that bastard had killed one of his companions...

"Why, are you worried about her?" Sen snickered. "She isn't dead, I'll tell you that much."

"You better not hurt _any _of my friends!"

"Enough of this!"

Sen made the first move. He thrusted his staff forward, which Lloyd dodged easily. He attempted to bring one blade down on him, but Sen had placed his staff beneath the sword and pushed upward, knocking Lloyd back. He then swung the weapon at Lloyd's left wrist, causing him to drop one sword. He looked up from the fallen weapon and found Sen's staff beneath his neck.

"Had enough?" Sen asked.

"I have another sword, you know," Lloyd began. Then he shouted, "Beast!"

The shockwave sent the young man back about twenty feet backwards through the air. Luckily for him, he managed to flip himself in the air so that he clumsily landed back on his feet.

"Damn," he cursed as he watched Lloyd pick up his other sword. He'd have to switch tactics.

Sen twirled his staff, and in a blink of an eye it became a baton. He placed it in front of him and a white incantation circle appeared beneath him.

_He does magic too!?_ Lloyd thought in shock. The circle was white, so that meant was going to be a ice attack. It was too late to interrupt the spell...

Lloyd prepared to brace whatever attack was coming at him. Sen finished the spell...

"Icicle!!"

Lloyd didn't even have to move to avoid the pitiful clump of ice that appeared before him. It was only about a foot and a half tall and already was beginning to melt.

"..." Lloyd was dead silent and just stared at the ice like a frog stared at a fly, unblinking.

"..." Sen was silent as well.

"..."

"..." 

"..."

"...What's with that look?" he finally snapped.

"It's just that..." Lloyd whispered, bowing his head. Then he brought it back up with a goofy grin plastered on his face

"I was expecting something better than that!!" he laughed hysterically, clutching his gut, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "Oh goddess..! I-I was expecting the air to explode or something, b-but!! Man, you really _**suck!!**_"

"..." Sen remained silent and stood looking down at the ground.

"Heh heh... heh..." Lloyd's laughter died down as he noticed Sen's seemingly downcast appearance. "Uh..."

Was... he sad? The guy already had emotional problems... Maybe Lloyd had gone a little overboard.

"Hey," Lloyd walked up to the young man and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe that was kinda harsh."

Sen looked up at Lloyd, his cold eyes glazed with hatred. He swiftly batted away the other boy's hand away.

"You think you're funny, huh?" he snarled.

Lloyd blinked, confused.

"I must be really pathetic, if a brainless idiot like _you _pities me."

Now that was uncalled for...

"Apparantly, I'm far too weak to defeat you in combat, guess there's only one thing left to do..."

He turned the baton back into a staff and placed in front of him. Wait, this was familiar...

"Hoenir, silence thy foolish enemy..."

_Shit!!_ _That spell-!_ Lloyd thought in horror. He had completely forgotten the spell, the spell that could paralyze a single target for who knows long. Maybe if he ran far enough-

"Restriction!!"

Too late.

Lloyd felt the muscles in his body spasm suddenly, then tightened afterwards. He first fell limply to his knees, then hit the ground face first. He tried to move, but immediately found that useless. When he struggled, it a burning sensation coursed through his body, keeping him down.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Sen whispered in an indifferent tone. "Struggle and it hurts, and the more you fight back, the worse it gets."

"..." Lloyd tried to speak but found that impossible as well.

"I get the feeling you're probably cussing me out in your head right now."

_Damn right you son of a bitch!! You pansyass!! You-!!_

"Well, my mission is complete. This is goodbye, you'll never see me again after this."

He raised his staff-

"Hey asshole!!"

Sen twitched in repugnance at the sound of the shrill voice. He slowly turned his head to face Margarita, who looked more pissed than Lloyd had ever seen her before.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?" she snapped. "What kind of a guy hits a girl from behind!? You-!" She stopped when she saw the young swordsman on the ground. "...Did I interrupt something?"

"Hm?" Sen tilted his head in confusion.

_Damn it Margarita!!_ Lloyd screamed in his head.

"Whatever, it's time for some payback!" the red head cracked her knuckles, her usual gesture of threat. Sen narrowed his eyes and raised his staff for combat. He suddenly froze, though, and a look of horror spread across his face.

"What's with that look?" Margarita snapped. Sen said nothing and instead slammed Lloyd over the head, knocking him out.

"Good luck," the strange young said before throwing another smoke ball to the ground.

"Hey-!!" Margarita covered her face to block out the smoke. When it dispersed, both were gone. "L-Lloyd!? Oh no..."

Good luck? What did that mean?

The earth began to shudder and a ferocious roar echoed in the air. The black creature.

"Why me!?"

VGA: Poor Margarita.

AD: Finally the bitch gets what she deserves.

VGA: (Backhands Announcer Dude)


End file.
